When Apple launched the iPhone 16e on Feb. 28, it meant that the price of entry to the world of Apple phones leapt up from $429 for the iPhone SE to $599 for the (admittedly significantly improved) iPhone 16e. I think the iPhone 16e is good value, but there’s no denying that a really affordable iPhone is no longer on sale. So, will Apple release a new iPhone SE and if so, when?
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter, we can expect a bit of a wait at the very least. “There’s no telling if Apple will ultimately build a new iPhone SE or another lower-end model. I personally think such a move would help the company in growth markets like India and Eastern Europe. But, as of now, Apple has no plans to do so.”
This makes sense: Apple wanted to bring Apple Intelligence to its most affordable iPhone and that meant upgrades to storage and other components, which meant the price rose. I absolutely don’t think Apple could launch a new iPhone that’s not Apple Intelligence-compatible.
As seeming proof of this thinking, it just updated an existing product, the iPad, which is not capable of Apple Intelligence, but the updated model has stuck with the same bargain-basement $349 price.
Gurman posits an alternate thesis. “If Apple eventually launches a successor to the 16e (say, a 17e or 18e), it could keep the 16e around at a lower price. That would be akin to what it already does with the main iPhone: The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus were still available after the debut of the iPhone 16, for instance,” he suggests.
I don’t believe there will be an iPhone 17e as it has never updated its most affordable iPhones on an annual cadence. More likely, I’d say, is that in September the iPhone 16e, iPhone 16 and perhaps iPhone 16 Plus will remain in the range going forward, likely at lower prices.
And maybe an iPhone 18e is on the cards for 2026. However, as Gurman acknowledges, “Apple never kept around an older iPhone SE when it launched new models… so—at least, for now—the company doesn’t want to offer an iPhone in the $300-to-$400 range,” he concludes.
