Last Wednesday, February 19, Apple announced the debut of a new iPhone model, which differs in lower price from other smartphones of the corresponding line, traditionally debuting in September.
The new product from the mentioned technology giant, based in Cupertino, California, is called the iPhone 16e. Sales of this device will be launched before the end of the current month. The new smartphone from Apple has a price equal to $599.
The iPhone 16e does not have a home button. Also, in this case, there is no fingerprint sensor, instead of which the new smartphone uses a FaceID scanner.
Apple’s device, which debuted this week, has a modern design that includes, among other things, a sensor notch at the top of the screen.
The new smartphone was equipped with the company’s A18 chip, which is also used in the main iPhone 16 models. The updated processor allows the device to run all the same apps and games as the more expensive models. The new smartphone comes in black and white.
The device also has the first cellular modem from the Cupertino technology giant, called the C1. It is worth noting that in the last few years, iPhone smartphones have been using modems developed by Qualcomm.
The new smartphone also has a single camera lens. The most advanced iPhones have three camera lenses.
To a certain extent, a kind of budget smartphone from Apple is a product that can be described as the company’s material reaction to its financial performance, which has been ambiguous lately. In recent quarters, the mentioned indicators have not generated reasons for unequivocal or confident optimism. At the same time, for the technology giant, the smartphone market is one of the main sources of revenue and a space where the brand has gained the status of one of the main players over the years. From this point of view, iPhone sales are of fundamental importance to Apple. These sales are also particularly important for the financial measurement of the technology giant’s activities. Lowering prices or releasing budget products is one of the most common ways in business to improve consumer demand.
For the quarter ended in December, iPhone sales fell 1% year-on-year. The total value of the smartphones of the specified model sold during the mentioned period amounted to more than $69 billion.
Low-end iPhones are important for the technology giant, as these products are highly likely to gain new consumers into the company’s ecosystem.
It is worth noting that the new smartphone supports Apple Intelligence. This feature makes the device the company’s cheapest new phone, which can access features such as image generation and notification summaries.
Currently, the cost of the standard version of the iPhone 16 starts at $799. For the iPhone 16 Pro, this figure starts at $999. Before Wednesday’s debut, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro models were the only phones with access to Apple Intelligence.
The technology giant has released a less-expensive iPhone model to round out the bottom of its lineup since 2016. The iPhone SE, as it was called then, got further updates in 2020 and 2022. Generally, the mentioned device reuses an older design than in the newest smartphones. At the same time, Apple is updating its components such as the processor so that it can receive ongoing software updates.
After the old iPhone SE sells out, there will be no new iPhones with a fingerprint scanner. It is worth mentioning that the price of the iPhone SE is $429.
In recent years, Apple has changed its approach to launching new products. In the past, the technology giant’s standard practice was to reveal devices live and on stage on a campus in California. In 2020, the company stopped inviting people to live presentations and instead began screening marketing videos on its website and YouTube.
In recent years, the technology giant has started to quietly release new products through press releases, such as the new Macs it announced last September. Perhaps the company decided to check out how much buzz it could get for one of these quieter launches. It is worth noting that Apple already has a stable status as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of consumer electronics. For this reason, the debut of new products is not a crucial circumstance in terms of the impact on subsequent sales.
As we have reported earlier, Apple Approaches $4 Trillion Valuation.
