Apple’s low-cost iPhone launch strategy lived on with the arrival of the iPhone 16e, with the company making the required efforts to announce the iPhone 17e just a year later. Naturally, to save up on production costs as much as possible and in light of the DRAM shortage, there isn’t expected to be much of a cosmetic difference, but you might be interested in what’s underneath the hood. Here’s everything you need to know about the iPhone 17e’s launch, features, and specifications.
Design and display
Unfortunately, those looking forward to the Dynamic Island change on the iPhone 17e will be disappointed, as Apple has retained the notch on its newest smartphone. Also, like the iPhone 16e, you’re getting a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display, which is pretty much an LTPS OLED panel running at 60Hz, with a 2,532 x 1,170 resolution at 460PPI.
The display’s typical brightness level reaches 800 nits, while peak brightness can reach 1,200 nits. Apple has also incorporated three times the scratch resistance on the iPhone 17e's front with Ceramic Shield 2, making it more durable than the iPhone 16e.
Chipset and other specifications
The iPhone 17e ships with an A19, and while you might think that's the same SoC found in the base iPhone 17, let us clear the confusion. Apple has incorporated binned silicon, where the A19 instead sports a 4-core GPU instead of a 5-core GPU. Fortunately, the chipset now sports Neural Accelerators, which weren’t present on the iPhone 16’s A18. As for the memory, Apple didn’t specify the following, but the iPhone 17e likely features 8GB RAM like its predecessor.
Connectivity
Instead of an in-house C1 5G modem that debuted with the iPhone 16e, Apple has upgraded the iPhone 17e with the C1X, the same baseband chip that debuted with the iPhone Air. Sadly, cellular connectivity is limited to sub-6GHz networks. The wireless adapter is also limited to Wi-Fi 6, with Bluetooth 5.3 added.
Camera
There’s a single 48MP Fusion camera present at the back of the iPhone 17e with an F/1.6 aperture, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), and digital zoom support of up to 10x. Unlike the iPhone 16e, Apple says that its successor can capture next-generation portraits with Focus and Depth Control. The 12MP selfie camera is exactly the same as the unit on the iPhone 16e, with the only primary difference being the ability to capture next-generation portraits with Focus and Depth Control like the main sensor.
Battery and charging
The battery capacity details are currently unknown on the iPhone 17e, but on Apple’s comparison page, we noticed that this particular model boasts the same 26-hour video playback and 21-hour streamed video playback runtimes as the iPhone 16e. In short, it is the worst-performing device from Apple’s current-generation family. If you'd like to check out the comparison, the list is below:
Video playback
- iPhone 17e - Up to 26 hours
- iPhone 16e - Up to 26 hours
- iPhone 17 - Up to 30 hours
- iPhone Air - Up to 27 hours
- iPhone 17 Pro - Up to 33 hours
- iPhone 17 Pro Max - Up to 39 hours
Video playback (streamed)
- iPhone 17e - Up to 21 hours
- iPhone 16e - Up to 21 hours
- iPhone 17 - Up to 27 hours
- iPhone Air - Up to 22 hours
- iPhone 17 Pro - Up to 30 hours
- iPhone 17 Pro Max - Up to 35 hours
On the plus side, Apple has finally added MagSafe, Qi2, and Qi wireless charging to the iPhone 17e, allowing users to get up to 50 percent charge in 30 minutes with a 20W adapter. With MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging, you can get up to 15W of charging. The USB-C charging port is limited to the USB 2.0 protocol, giving you 480Mb/s data transfer speeds, or 60MB/s.
Price and storage
Apple has managed to keep the iPhone 17e price maintained at $599, making it unchanged from the iPhone 16e while offering some decent upgrades. However, with the base iPhone 17 available in the company’s lineup for $799, the newest release could have some trouble gaining traction. You can check out our in-depth comparison to see why we’re recommending the more expensive model.
Launch, available colors
Pre-orders for the iPhone 17e kicked off on March 4, with the official release happening on March 11. As for the available colors, the handset is available in three colors: Black, Soft Pink, and White.
