iPhone 16e details: camera, battery life, action button and more
A look at the more detailed Apple information on the new entry-level iPhone reveals a number of interesting new features. An overview.
iPhone 16e with display and action button: package with many features, but not all.
(Image: Apple)
The iPhone 16e, which will be released next week, is one of the most interesting Apple smartphones of recent years. This is not due to its external appearance, which Apple has taken over from the iPhone 14 from 2022. Instead, it's the inner workings that are particularly exciting: Apple is installing a current A18 chip with 8 GB of RAM for Apple Intelligence, a single 48-megapixel camera on the back, the selfie camera from the iPhone 16 and, for the first time, is delivering a smartphone with an in-house developed 5G wireless modem (Apple C1). But these main features are not everything, there are some details of the new devices that Apple has not put in the foreground.
Camera and battery differences – and a SoC binning
The rear camera of the iPhone 16e, like the selfie camera, also comes from the iPhone 16. However, the sensor lacks some functions. It is a so-called fusion lens that integrates a 2x zoom. There is no telephoto lens and no ultra-wide angle. Spatial recordings (photo and video) for the Vision Pro are not possible due to the single sensor unit. Apple does not implement focus control (subsequent selection of a different object) for portrait mode or photographic styles, even though the latter would be technically possible. Cinema and action modes for video are missing, as is the new audio mix from the iPhone 16.
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The battery life is – probably also excellent on the 16e thanks to the C1 –. With 26 hours of video playback, it surpasses any previous 6.1-inch iPhone. Video streams are possible for 21 hours at a time, and pure audio playback is 90 hours. The SE 3 only managed 15 hours of video, the 16e 22 hours. The A18 chip in the 16e is "binned", meaning it has one GPU core less than the iPhone 16. It remains to be seen what impact this will have.
No MagSafe, no UWB, but Visual Intelligence instead
The fact that the iPhone 16e confusingly lacks Qi2 or MagSafe has already been widely reported. Only slower wireless charging with Qi is possible, magnets for holding the charger are not integrated, which also means that MagSafe accessories cannot be used. Apple has since countered claims that the lack of MagSafe has to do with the installation of the C1 – there was speculation about possible interference. However, the company has not revealed why it decided to take this step. Qi allows charging with a maximum of 7.5 watts, but fast charging is possible via USB-C. In addition to the lack of MagSafe, Apple also does not install an ultra-wideband chip, which makes it difficult to locate the iPhone precisely. No reason was given for this either.
The action button on the iPhone 16e also supports Visual Intelligence, Apple's AI function for recognizing the surroundings. On the iPhone 16, this is triggered via the Camera Control button; the function has so far been omitted on the iPhone 15 Pro. It remains to be seen whether it will be retrofitted to the older models via an update.
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