Apple launch event: New budget iPhone 16E handset unveiled complete with all new features

Tech giant Apple unveiled a sleeker, more expensive version of its most affordable iPhone in a launch event in California on Wednesday.

The release is being seen as an attempt to widen the audience for a bundle of artificial intelligence (AI) technology that the company has been hoping will revive demand for its most profitable product line-up.

The iPhone 16e unveiled on Wednesday is the fourth-generation of a model that’s sold at a dramatically lower price than the iPhone’s standard and premium models.

The previous bargain-bin models were called the iPhone SE, with the last version coming out in 2022.

Like the higher-priced iPhone 16 lineup unveiled last September, the iPhone 16E includes the souped-up computer chip needed to process an array of AI features that automatically summarize text, and audio and create on-the-fly emojis while smartening up the device’s virtual assistant, Siri.

It will also have a more powerful battery and camera.

All those upgrades will translate into a higher starting price for an iPhone 16e at $600 (€575), a 40 per cent increase from $430 (€412) for the last iPhone SE.

But iPhone 16e will be more affordable than the cheapest standard iPhone 16 at $800 (€767). The new phone will be available in stores in the US on February 28, but can be pre-ordered beginning Friday.

"We’re so excited for iPhone 16e to complete the lineup as a powerful, more affordable option to bring the iPhone experience to even more people," said Kaiann Drance, an Apple vice president in charge of promoting a device lineup that accounts for more than half of the company's revenue.

Apple Intelligence delays

Although Apple has been hyping its foray into AI since last June, the complete set of features still haven’t been released in the US and the technology still isn’t even available in some parts of the world.

The delays in making the iPhone's AI - dubbed "Apple Intelligence" - more widely available through free software updates dinged the Cupertino, California, company during the past holiday when sales of the device dipped slightly from their 2023 levels.

Apple has primarily been losing the ground in China, where it hasn’t yet specified when the iPhone's AI technology will be available.

But the company recently struck an AI partnership with Alibaba in China that could pave the way for the technology coming to iPhones in that country this spring.

Besides being able to handle AI for the first time, the iPhone 16e has a different look from previous SE models. It boasts a 6.1-inch display screen, slightly larger than the 4.7-inch display on SE model, and no longer has a home screen button like the SE had.

The new iPhone 16e will include a facial recognition option for unlocking the device, just like the higher-priced models do.

Apple's shares edged up during Wednesday's late mornng trading to nearly $245 (€235), below the stock's peak price of roughly $260 (€249) reached in late December.