This iPhone was supposed to dominate the mid-range, now it’s forgotten

Hey, remember the iPhone 16e?

Yeah, that little blip in Apple’s timeline. It was supposed to bring “affordable Apple Intelligence in your palm”. And no, it did not launch in 2024. It came out this year, right after the Galaxy S25 line.

Strange how it already feels like ancient history.

So… how did the iPhone 16e get memory-holed so fast?

To be fair, the iPhone 16e wasn’t made to be particularly memorable. It was made to be useful — a low-cost entry into Apple’s next big thing — Apple Intelligence.

Except that didn’t go well. And because of that, the iPhone 16e is now stuck in the weird state of being a device built for a strategy that seems to be abandoned (or, at the very least — in limbo).

The original plan

Apple’s AI was supposed to be very much cloud-based, with the whole Private Cloud Compute system guaranteeing encrypted information traveling between your handset and Apple’s supercomputer constantly.

To run it, devices would require an A17 or better class of chip with its Neural Engine on board.



So, to get Apple Intelligence into the hands of as many people as possible, Cupertino was quick to upgrade its entry-level line. Begone old and beloved iPhone SE! The new era is here!

For that reason, the iPhone 16e got a shiny A18 processor. I do remember calling this “the one positive of AI — Apple actually gave us better processors and more RAM”.

The fail and the pivot

Apple made a lot of promises about Apple Intelligence. However, the supposed updates were delayed time and again. The iOS patches that did come out were kind of slim.

Ultimately, Apple was forced to postpone “The One” big update. It was initially supposed to land in March of 2025, right as the iPhone 16e was settling in comfortably on store shelves.

Said update was going to overhaul Siri and bring AI features more useful than the unintentionally funny notification summaries to its iPhones. Now, it’s postponed indefinitely — probably to some time in 2026.

There were a lot of reports about drama behind the scenes and how the AI features were not fully planned out and organization was a bit of a mess. Since there’s nothing concrete there, we won’t comment on that too much. The fact of the matter is that the company boldly “hijacked” the AI term to call it “Apple Intelligence” and then ultimately fumbled the launch.

As a result, Apple pivoted. Any subsequent talks and events were very sparse on mention of AI, and Cupertino went back to its “Privacy first” messaging. Most smart features that are offered are being marketed as “happening on your iPhone”.

A phone without a mission

Now that the iPhone 16e is no longer your gateway into the wonderful new world of Apple AI, it’s just a budget iPhone that launched at a weird cycle between the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17. Which is a bad place to be, since the iPhone 17 event was absolutely bombastic.

Overshadowed by its very peers

All the upgrades to the iPhone 17, all the hardware improvements of the iPhone 17 Pro, the amazing re-work of iPadOS 26, and of course Liquid Glass — these were all new, hotly-anticipated, and arguably more exciting changes than the vague promise of “awesome AI”.

And yeah, you could say that the iPhone 16e launched in February, so there’s no way it got overshadowed by a September event. But we first saw the new iOS 26 features and changes at WWDC ‘25 in June, and the pivot was visible even back then.

You could argue that the iPhone SE was also “the affordable one”, but it’s not a fair comparison, as it very clearly carved a place for itself. That was because the iPhone SE was banking heavily on nostalgia and familiarity. It was the phone that brought Apple Pay to users that refused to let go of the small, thin design with a home button. It had its niche and reason to exist, and it is probably missed by its target demographic in the current age of all-screen iPhones.

Which actually leads me to another point:

Wow, the iPhone lineup is bloated

In late 2025, we have the iPhone 17, Air, Pro, and Pro Max. Then, an iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. And finally an iPhone 16e.

And those are just the models that are officially up on the Apple website. Third party retailers and carriers are still clearing off old stock of 16 Pro units, even way back to iPhone 14 Plus units.

That’s a stark contrast to what we had in the very recent past — a choice of “the new iPhone”, “last year’s iPhone at a discount”, or “the cheap SE”.

In this entire lineup of new models, old models, old stock, and even when you weigh in refurbished options — the iPhone 16e is just lacking. It’s only available in two colors, it’s got the old thicker bezel design, the mute switch and no Camera Control (though you may like that), the old 60 Hz screen with ye olde big notch on top. No standout features and only a single camera.

Why buy that for $600 when the objectively better iPhone 16 can be found at the same price or lower by the patient and strategic shopper? Fishing out an iPhone 16 or iPhone 15 Pro deal for around $600 feels like a bargain. Buying a plain black or plain white iPhone 16e feels like settling for the budget option.

Will the iPhone 16e rebound?

We have no reason to believe that Apple has given up on its AI dream. On the contrary — reports say that it’s in talks with Google to “rent” Gemini AI to power Siri for the small sum of $1 billion per year. That is until Apple’s engineers can finally put together their own Apple Intelligence code, probably.

But, at the time the Big AI Update comes, the iPhone 16e’s thunder will have come and passed. Will Apple try to rekindle the flame by launching an iPhone 17e? That’s one probable option.

However, recent reports are also stating that Apple is currently rethinking its entire iPhone launch schedule. From the ground up — September of 2026 may only give us the iPhone 18 Pro models and the coveted iPhone Fold. Whereas a supposed iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e are now rumored to launch in spring of 2027.

I guess there’s a major strategy shift going on behind closed doors over at Cupertino. All we have to do is wait and see.

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