Has Apple's iPhone Mystery Been Solved?

Published 1 day ago• 2 minute read

AI Smartphone iPhone 16e — Customers experience an AI smartphone iPhone 16e at an Apple store in Shanghai, China (CFOTO/Future ... More Publishing via Getty Images)
CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Since its launch in 2016 until its cancellation in 2025, Apple released just three iPhone SE models. They launched with parity to the main iPhone line. Still, with no annual replacement, the iPhone SE brand stood apart from the yearly release cycle that leveraged fashion and features to tempt consumers to upgrade.

February this year saw Apple retire the iPhone SE, replaced by the iPhone 16e. This was a new approach by Apple, specifically tying in the Q1 release window to the mainline iPhone 16 family launched the previous September. Apple also took the opportunity to lift the price to $599.

The question around longevity was clear; would Tim Cook and his team continue down the iPhone SE path and keep the iPhone 16E around for multiple years? Or would the “16” be bumped to a “17” after twelve months and place the “budget” iPhone onto the same treadmill as every other model?

Writing for Bloomberg, long-time Apple reporter Mark Gurman points to an iPhone 17e arriving early in 2026, suggesting that Apple will indeed move away from the longevity of the iPhone SE and instead move to an annual upgrade cycle, presumably with half an eye on increasing the turnover of cheaper iPhone models with consumers.

With that fast update, you can expect Apple to keep the iPhone 17e in line with the hardware launched inside the rest of the iPhone 17 family, which will no doubt include the Apple Silicon A19 chipset. With generative AI and artificial intelligence remaining a key feature on modern smartphones, ensuring that the entire iPhone range can support the awkwardly backronymed Apple Intelligence (whenever it arrives in full force).

Apple is expected to launch its regular iPhone update—this year, featuring the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro— in the second week of September. The company is also expected to debut the iPhone 17 Air, a fashionably thin iPhone following in the footsteps of many Android manufacturers looking to stand out with their design prowess.

Now read about the iPhones that will come before the iPhone 17e in Forbes’ weekly Apple digest...

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