And you’ll have to pry my iPhone 12 mini from my fingers until another similar sized iPhone is released.
As Adam notes, too big for a variety of reasons.
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With the exception of the camera bump - 0.44” for the 14, 0.33” for the 16e, plus no camera plateau on the 16e - just a lens ring bump. The 16e is also a lighter phone.
I’ve voted with my wallet — just purchased a refurbished 2022 SE to replace my well-used 2020 SE (while I’ll sell once I do transfer to the new phone) and hopefully keep me on the form factor I prefer until around 2030.
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That’s because it isn’t weighed down by Qualcomm patents.
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I’ve read all of these comments, and I’m still quite clear that the satellite features are a requirement for any new phone(s) that we buy. I have the iPhone 15 Pro, but my Wife still likes her SE. We live and hike in the Northern AZ high desert. All of the numerous features that are being debated with respect to the 16e versus the SE mean nothing to me without the satellite features. When it’s time to replace the SE, hopefully soon, we’ll definitely get an iPhone with satellite features.
I enjoyed the delicate balance between disapproval and objective analysis in this article …!
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As I noted above, the 16e tech specs indicate that it does have satellite connectivity:
(buried way down that page in Peace of Mind!)
Being confined to the Canadian cellular market, I have a lot less choice. Every time I change a phone my old contract is cancelled and replaced with a new, more expensive one. I have been able to get around this by buying IPhone SEs as needed and swapping the SIM card. Now I prefer the smaller size of the SE, and haven’t found Apple Intelligence of any use on my Mac, so I would have gone for another SE when the current one fails. This move means that I not only have to buy a bigger and more expensive phone, but I’ll have to get a bigger and more expensive contract! That will probably result in a move to an Android phone.
This was also mentioned in the YouTube presentation.
I am missing this: where is the link to the YouTube presentation?
It must’ve been posted in another thread, but I can’t find it now. So maybe it got lost/deleted when the other 16e announcement thread got merged into this one.
Here’s a link to the announcement video from Apple’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/mFuyX1XgJFg
Apple has the same video on their web site (at least for now). At the top of Apple’s main page (https://www.apple.com/), there’s a link “Watch the film”. There another link to it on the 16e’s product page (iPhone 16e - Apple), if you scroll down a little bit.
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I’m just happy we’ve finally had iPhone models ending in +, e, c, and GS.
We’re done, folks. The naming suffixes are all spoken for.
I want to add that aside from refurbished products (e.g. iPhone 13 and 14 models), there no longer are any products sold new with lightning connector. There might be some older Airpods or Pencil that still use it, but the newest variations lack it. The iMac models now have magic keyboard with USB-C (or altleast that option is available) as well as the “magic mouse” that you lay on its side to charge, unable to use thus so until charged.
All the new iPad models are USB-C as well.
Why doesn’t Apple promote this? “We listened! All products we sell as current and new, are featuring the USB-C connector!” … and chirp chirp. How about a magsafe or Qi charging mousepad and magicmouse so you can actually use the mouse while its charging? (Apologies Apple but when someone asks me for alternative, I recommend Logitech MX Anywhere)
Fare thee well, Lightning connector.
I don’t follow Apple marketing closely but somebody who does says:
Q: What do you think of how Apple is promoting USB-C on the iPhone 16e?
A: This is a funny one. For years, Apple fought the European Union on its mandate to switch all of its devices to USB-C from Lightning ports. The EU argued that getting everyone on USB-C would improve the user experience and save people from needing multiple cables and chargers. Apple pushed back, saying the government was meddling in product design decisions and that the move would create environmental problems. So now it’s very Apple-like to see the company suddenly take pride in the switch and promote USB-Cas a major new iPhone 16e feature. It’s even touting the benefit of only needing a single cable.
I also appreciate the smaller form factor and a phone that doesn’t try to do it all. I don’t store my music on my phone – that is what dedicated iPods (Touch for music, Nano in the car for podcasts and audiobooks) are for. Photos I store offline, with only a “curated” set on the phone. I am unimpressed by AI. I would still have a flip phone if our carrier hadn’t essentially required 5G, although I do appreciate the much better camera and the ability to occasionally use maps. And I love the Home button. When my wife died last year, I kept my SE2 and traded in her iPhone 13.
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Nobody ever seriously disagreed with the technical points of the EU. USB-C supports higher bandwidths than Lightning (although I think one iPad model supported USB3 over it), and a lot of the original and really cool concepts for Lightning (e.g. devices able to detect non-USB peripherals via an ID chip and dynamically reconfigure the pins for the needs of the device) never happened.
The most significant argument, which the EU didn’t care about, is/was the massive installed base of Lightning-enabled devices. It’s not like in the 80’s, where there were dozens of proprietary connectors, each one only compatible with a very small number of phones, none having much market share. In this case, we’re only talking about two connectors, both of which have very large market shares.
The rest of the arguments are/were just click-bait for the press. And everybody, including Apple, knew it.
I’m sure Apple was planning to switch to something different (not necessarily USB-C) eventually, simply due to Lightning’s technical limitations, much like how they switched from the Dock connector to Lightning due to its technical limitations. (And how lots of other popular interfaces got replaced over the years - abandoning ADB, SCSI and serial ports for USB, FireWire (while it lasted) and Thunderbolt.)
The only thing the EU really did was force Apple to make the switch on a government-mandated timetable instead of on Apple’s own schedule.
And it is not the least bit surprising that, the switch now having been made, Apple is promoting it as the greatest thing. That’s their marketing style. They do this for every new feature of every product, no matter how big or small it might actually be.
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Two more points:
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Apple already standardized on USB-C chargers. All the EU did is make everyone get different cables.
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My concern is that the EU is effectively freezing the innovation at this point. Imagine if the EU had made this directive 10 years ago; we’d be stuck with micro USB-B connectors on all the devices. There never would be a USB-C.
Sure, they say that device manufactures can petition for change, but I don’t think that will ever happen. It is a chicken-and-egg problem: no new technology can be added as a port because the EU won’t allow it, so no new technology can be introduced and gain support.
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Not for me. I was very pleased when Apple was forced into the USB-C world. It was extremely irritating having to carry multiple cables just to hook up my Apple gear.
I so prefer the smaller less expensive SE. There are features I don’t want on a phone and i am willing to compromise a little - but not with footprint or USBC over lightning - and AI should be 100 opt in and off at purchase… I guess I’ll keep my phone longer than I expected but I like it very much. And now I can look at this with a little more hmmmm Leitz Phone 2 | Leica Camera US
I’m rather more sanguine than that. I remember the days of lots and lots of different style adaptors (and that was just in the USB family!). I’d rather they stick with USB-C for too long than open it up to every new thing that appears. I don’t need lots of innovation in the port space – I need consistency and familiarity.