Apple's latest budget iPhone, the iPhone 17e, was released the day before yesterday, so we have an idea of what's new compared to the iPhone 16e and how it measures up against the iPhone 17 series.
iPhone 17e: What changes did Apple bring?
Apple didn't refresh the design of the iPhone 17e, so it still has the look of the iPhone 14, which was also used as the basis for the iPhone 16e. There's a notch on the screen without the Dynamic Island, but Apple made a few changes to modernize the iPhone 17e.
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The iPhone 16e didn't have MagSafe, which was a huge inconvenience, but the iPhone 17e does. MagSafe has been fully embraced by both Apple and accessory makers, so it's hard to find accessories that don't use MagSafe. The addition of MagSafe opens up a whole new range of options for cases and chargers, and it means wireless charging is now 15W instead of 7.5W.
The color palette for the iPhone 17e remains limited, but there is a light pink model in addition to the black and white options this year. The soft pink is a subtle shade that looks beautiful up close. Ceramic Shield 2 is new for the front glass this year, which means the iPhone 17e should be more scratch-resistant.
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Like the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17e uses the A19 chip, which is the latest chip in the A-series, although the iPhone 17e version has one fewer GPU core. The A19 offers incredible performance for a budget iPhone, but the speed isn't significantly improved over an iPhone 16e. If you're coming from an older iPhone like the iPhone 8, X, XR, XS, 11, or similar, the difference will be noticeable.
The base storage has been upgraded to 256GB , and Apple no longer offers a 128GB option. There was no change to the starting price with the storage upgrade, which is a major plus.
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The iPhone 17e shares a lot in common with the iPhone 16e. There's still a single camera on the back with no Telephoto or Ultra Wide lens, there's a notch on the display, and it's now missing the refresh rate 120Hz ProMotion that Apple added to the rest of the iPhone 17 series.
If you don't mind having only one camera lens to work with and don't miss ProMotion, the iPhone 17e is a great deal. It starts at $599, which is $200 cheaper than the iPhone 17.
