The iPhone 17e is just around the corner and as is typical, rumors have given us a pretty good idea of what to expect. The company is preparing to launch several devices on March 4 (or shortly before), the most exciting of which is the iPhone 16e successor – the iPhone 17e.
The 17e promises some notable upgrades over its predecessor. Perhaps the most obvious island would be Dynamic Island. The full-fledged notch will be replaced by a dynamic island cutout with software features.
The display will remain the same – 6.1″ running at 60Hz. The promotion feature has not yet arrived in the base iPhone. However, the bezels are said to be thinner this time.
There will be no major change in the design also. We’re still considering the traditional iPhone look with the aluminum frame and glass front and back panels. IP68 ingress protection is also on the menu.
Some sources point to a downclocked A19 Bionic chip, not the Pro version. The expected performance is similar to that of the Apple A17 Pro SoC.
The new and more efficient Apple C1X modem will be on board, promising better performance and lower energy consumption than the previous C1 modem.
There is no major change in the camera system either. The 17e will still rely on a 48MP shooter on the back, using the same sensor as before, but the better processing provided by the ISP of the A19 chip is likely to give a slight boost in image quality. In fact, some leaks suggest that Apple will introduce Fusion computational processing in the cheaper iPhone 17e.
Reports on the selfie camera are mixed – some claim it will remain unchanged, while others argue that Apple will upgrade it to 18MP and take center stage.
The battery capacity is also unconfirmed, with various reports putting it between 4,000 and 4,500 mAh. It’s a fairly safe assumption that the iPhone 16e has a rated battery capacity of 4,005 mAh.
The said battery will be charged over the same USB Power Delivery protocol, possibly capping at 24W like the previous model. Notably, the 24W charging power isn’t an official figure — we measured it in our lab while reviewing the iPhone 16e.
More importantly, Apple will bring its MagSafe magnetic wireless charging to the iPhone 17e.
As far as pricing is concerned, reports so far point to a similar launch price of $599 for the 8GB/128GB base memory configuration.
Last year’s model was certainly successful, so Apple isn’t changing the recipe, it’s just improving it.
