A $ 599 iPhone 16e There are many things, but do not dare to call it Budget phoneI do not even dare to call this “cheap” field. Being an iPhone se successor for $ 429, it is difficult not to consider 16e as disappointment. Of course, this is 200 dollars less than the vanilla iPhone 16 (which, as I claimed, was Excellent when starting), and 16E is also included in the latest A18 chip with Apple Intelligence support. But this is no longer a small phone, and it puts forward a cheaper Apple iPhone option is much higher than $ 500. This is that we most likely will never see again. (And this is potentially terrible news for future prices for iPhone.)
Given the huge number of new equipment in the iPhone 16E, including the larger 6.1-inch OLED screen, the first internal modem of the Apple “C1” and this the above A18 chip, easily justifies in price. 16e, of course, is much closer to the specifications on the iPhone 16 than the third-generation on the iPhone 13. But I would say that Apple does not need an OLED screen for this model, and probably there are other ways to reduce costs. (It's even strange Apple did not hold Magsafe and fast wireless chargingWhat would be cheaper in implementation and, possibly, more useful than a large OLED -display.)
Although it is nice to have an A18 chip (albeit with one less graphic nucleus) and the full support of Apple Intelligence, I agree with my colleague Igor Bonifachik that Users do not quite require For those functions of artificial intelligence. If we had to blame one culprit of iPhone 16e prices, then this is probably Apple intelligence. In the end, Apple is still fighting to prove that this is not too far beyond Microsoft, Google and Openai. In any other year, Apple could justify the throwing of an older chip in 16e, but this is impossible when it is in the middle of the war for the noise of AI.
Basically, I am just sad that Apple again does not increase the price of the entrance to your garden on the walls without much justification. There is something special-blessed, even okolo 500 smartphones in the amount of $ 500. This is a reminder of a more reasonable era of smartphones, when prices led to a decrease Phones such as Moto GThese days you have Android phones, such as Pixel 8a (And Potentially upcoming Pixel 9A), as well as $ 400 Samsung Galaxy A35 And $ 499 Galaxy A55Field
Now that the dream of the iPhone in the amount of $ 500 is good and truly dead, it seems that Apple simply prepares the ground for future prices. The iphone 17e $ 600 or $ 650 will certainly look like a transaction compared to the iPhone $ 17 or 900 $ 17. And just wait for the inevitable IPhone in the amount of $ 2,000, which can be shown for $ 3,000.
Of course, you can be a smart buyer of Apple and choose used or renovated iPhone. Recently, I picked up the renovated iPhone 14 Plus as an early gift for my mother’s day for $ 420, and Amazon currently has lists for iPhone 14 PROS right below 500 US dollarsThese devices will not support Apple intelligence, but I would say that adhering to a used market is just a more useful form of intelligence.
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