Apple has finally found an entry-level iPhone model that sells
Starting with 2013's iPhone 5C, Apple has been looking for a successful entry-level iPhone line it could sell and finally has one.
Apple has finally found a lower-priced entry-level iPhone line that sells. | Image by PhoneArena
Ever since the original iPhone was introduced in 2007, the price of the device was considered to be very high compared to other phones. The 4 GB model was priced at $499 and the 8 GB unit cost $599. The Motorola Q, running Windows Mobile, was $99 with a two-year contract. This was pointed out by Steve Ballmer, who was the CEO of Microsoft at the time. He famously laughed at the iPhone and said that it was expensive compared to the subsidized Windows Mobile phones available, like the Motorola Q.
The first entry-level, lower-priced iPhone model was the colorful and plastic iPhone 5C
By the time the iPhone 5 was released in 2012, the retail price of the phone was $649 (16 GB of storage), $749 (32 GB of storage), and $849 (64 GB of storage). The Android-powered Google Nexus 4, also launched in 2012, was priced at $299 unlocked. By this time, Android sales were greater than those for the iPhone every year. Some of this was due to feature parity, some of it was due to the larger screens on Android models, and some of Android's success had to do with pricing. U.S. carriers were beginning to drop subsidies in favor of zero percent interest finance plans making the "sticker price" of a handset more important than ever.
Apple introduced the first lower-priced entry-level iPhone model in 2013. Alongside the iPhone 5S, Apple released the iPhone 5C with a design that no less than Jony Ive called "unapologetically plastic." The entry-level model was available in bright vivid colors like green, white, blue, yellow, and rose. The price of the 16 GB model was $549 with a $649 price for the 32 GB variant. The phone basically had the same specs as the previous year's iPhone 5. Sales, however, failed to meet Apple's internal expectations.
The iPhone 16e captured 9% of U.S. iPhone sales by volume in 2025 | Image by CIRP
The iPhone SE and iPhone mini lines did not impress Apple or consumers
Apple quickly dropped the iPhone "C" model and didn't return to the low-priced market until 2016 when it released the first iPhone SE, which started at $399 for the 16 GB unit. Apple came back to the low-priced well in 2020 and 2022 for the iPhone SE 2 and iPhone SE 3, respectively. Later in 2022, Apple introduced the iPhone 12 mini and followed that with the iPhone 13 mini the following year. Both models, at $699, were $100 cheaper than the base iPhone 12 and iPhone 13. The iPhone mini sold so poorly that Apple replaced it with the iPhone 14 Plus in 2022.
In February 2025, the iPhone 16e was released. This was a big shift in how Apple looked at a lower-priced iPhone. Apple used iPhone 14 hardware including the notch and Face ID (for the first time in a "budget" model) but equipped the device with the same A18 application processor (AP) that was used on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. It also featured 8 GB RAM, the same amount on all models belonging to the iPhone 16 series. This was done because 8 GB is the minimum amount of memory required for an iPhone to support Apple's Apple Intelligence AI initiative. Apple wanted to make sure that all of its current models would support its AI features.
Would you buy an iPhone "e" series model?
By continuing the series and releasing the iPhone 17e earlier this month, Apple made it clear that the low-priced, entry-level "e" series will be refreshed every year. Apple made little tweaks to the iPhone 17e. For example, while Apple kept the starting price of the iPhone 17e at $599, it doubled the storage to 256 GB from 128 GB. By adding support for Q2 wireless charging and a magnetic ring, the iPhone 17e doubled the wireless charging rate to 15W compared to its predecessor, and the new model also works with MagSafe accessories.
Apple finally has found a lower-priced entry-level iPhone that can compete with some Android models
According to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), it seems that Apple finally found a lower-priced entry-level iPhone series that has traction. The iPhone 16e made up 9% of U.S. iPhone unit sales in 2025 topping the 8% generated by the iPhone SE 3 in 2022. The entry-level model prior to the iPhone 16e was the iPhone 13 mini, and it made up only 1% of U.S. iPhone sales by volume in 2023.
With Apple updating the iPhone e line each year, it appears that Apple finally has a phone that can compete with a mid-range Android model like the Pixel 10a. While the iPhone 17e is priced at $599, $100 higher than the Pixel 10a, it starts with twice the storage amount of the latest mid-range Pixel.
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