Brought to you by Uniq: Check out the new rugged cases from Uniq including the glow in the dark Combat Active iPhone case featuring a textured grip for ultimate control and a reflective lanyard. And the Stride SE, a high-performance Apple Watch sports band built tough with durable FKM.
Yesterday, Apple launched the new iPhone 16e, the cheapest new iPhone model in the lineup. It brings Apple Intelligence, Face ID, USB-C, the 48MP Fusion camera, and much more – all down to a starting price of just $599.
Obviously, the iPhone 16e is a noteworthy upgrade over the iPhone SE 3. However, there’s an easy comparison to be made to previous generation entry-level iPhones, such as the iPhone 12, 13, 14 and even iPhone 15 – for many great reasons. We’ll be diving into that here.
iPhone 12 vs iPhone 16e
iPhone 12 was the first iPhone redesign since the iPhone X, introducing the boxy design language that lives on in the iPhone lineup to this day. It was the first iPhone with 5G, using a somewhat-inefficient early generation Qualcomm 5G modem. On the other hand, iPhone 16e uses Apples first in-house 5G modem, with large power efficiency gains.
Between USB-C, the smaller notch, Apple Intelligence, and the larger camera sensor – iPhone 16e is nearly a no-brainer upgrade.
| iPhone 12 | iPhone 16e | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.1″ OLED w/ larger notch – 625 nits of brightness |
6.1″ OLED w/ smaller notch – 800 nits of brightness |
| Camera | Wide: 12MP Ultrawide: 12MP |
Wide: 48MP Ultrawide: N/A |
| Processor | Apple A14: – 6 core CPU – 4 core GPU – 16 core Neural Engine |
Apple A18: – 6 core CPU – 4 core GPU – 16 core Neural Engine |
| Charging | Lightning up to 20W MagSafe up to 15W |
USB-C up to 20W Qi charging up to 7.5W |
| Apple Intelligence | No support | Fully supported |
| Connectivity | – Wi-Fi 6 – Bluetooth 5.0 – Sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G |
– Wi-Fi 6 – Bluetooth 5.3 – Sub-6GHz 5G |
| Battery | 17 hours of video playback | 26 hours of video playback |
| Additional features | – Ring/mute switch – Emergency SOS – N/A – N/A |
– Action Button – Emergency SOS via Satellite – Crash Detection – Photographic Styles |
iPhone 13 vs iPhone 16e
There’s a number of noteworthy upgrades with the iPhone 16e over 2021’s iPhone 13. For the most part, this is a universal improvement, other than the fact that you’ll be losing out on an ultrawide camera on the rear. However, since the iPhone 16e features the 48MP camera sensor from iPhone 15, you’ll be able to take photos with 2x zoom and still receive “optical quality,” something that the iPhone 13 cannot do.
| iPhone 13 | iPhone 16e | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.1″ OLED w/ smaller notch – 800 nits of brightness |
6.1″ OLED w/ smaller notch – 800 nits of brightness |
| Camera | Wide: 12MP Ultrawide: 12MP |
Wide: 48MP Ultrawide: N/A |
| Processor | Apple A15: – 6 core CPU – 4 core GPU – 16 core Neural Engine |
Apple A18: – 6 core CPU – 4 core GPU – 16 core Neural Engine |
| Charging | Lightning up to 20W MagSafe up to 15W |
USB-C up to 20W Qi charging up to 7.5W |
| Apple Intelligence | No support | Fully supported |
| Connectivity | – Wi-Fi 6 – Bluetooth 5.0 – Sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G |
– Wi-Fi 6 – Bluetooth 5.3 – Sub-6GHz 5G |
| Battery | 19 hours of video playback | 26 hours of video playback |
| Additional features | – Ring/mute switch – Emergency SOS – N/A – Photographic Styles |
– Action Button – Emergency SOS via Satellite – Crash Detection – Photographic Styles |
iPhone 14 vs iPhone 16e
Given the similarities between iPhone 13 and iPhone 14, there aren’t too many notable differences to point out here, but here’s a full breakdown:
| iPhone 14 | iPhone 16e | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.1″ OLED w/ smaller notch – 800 nits of brightness |
6.1″ OLED w/ smaller notch – 800 nits of brightness |
| Camera | Wide: 12MP Ultrawide: 12MP |
Wide: 48MP Ultrawide: N/A |
| Processor | Apple A15: – 6 core CPU – 5 core GPU – 16 core Neural Engine |
Apple A18: – 6 core CPU – 4 core GPU – 16 core Neural Engine |
| Charging | Lightning up to 20W MagSafe up to 15W |
USB-C up to 20W Qi charging up to 7.5W |
| Apple Intelligence | No support | Fully supported |
| Connectivity | – Wi-Fi 6 – Bluetooth 5.3 – Sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G |
– Wi-Fi 6 – Bluetooth 5.3 – Sub-6GHz 5G |
| Battery | 20 hours of video playback | 26 hours of video playback |
| Additional features | – Ring/mute switch – Emergency SOS via Satellite – Crash Detection – Photographic Style |
– Action Button – Emergency SOS via Satellite – Crash Detection – Photographic Styles |
iPhone 15 vs iPhone 16e
iPhone 15 was a notable upgrade over iPhone 14, bringing USB-C and Dynamic Island to Apple’s entry-level iPhone. It also brought over the upgraded 48MP wide angle lens from iPhone 14 Pro, which the iPhone 16e also takes advantage of.
| iPhone 15 | iPhone 16e | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.1″ OLED w/ Dynamic Island – 1000 nits of brightness |
6.1″ OLED w/ smaller notch – 800 nits of brightness |
| Camera | Wide: 48MP Ultrawide: 12MP |
Wide: 48MP Ultrawide: N/A |
| Processor | Apple A16: – 6 core CPU – 5 core GPU – 16 core Neural Engine |
Apple A18: – 6 core CPU – 4 core GPU – 16 core Neural Engine |
| Charging | USB-C up to 20W MagSafe up to 15W |
USB-C up to 20W Qi charging up to 7.5W |
| Apple Intelligence | No support | Fully supported |
| Connectivity | – Wi-Fi 6 – Bluetooth 5.3 – Sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G |
– Wi-Fi 6 – Bluetooth 5.3 – Sub-6GHz 5G |
| Battery | 20 hours of video playback | 26 hours of video playback |
| Additional features | – Ring/mute switch – Emergency SOS via Satellite – Crash Detection – Photographic Style |
– Action Button – Emergency SOS via Satellite – Crash Detection – Photographic Styles |
Wrap up
Essentially, the common theme here is that iPhone 16e will be an overall upgrade from any iPhone older than the latest-generation iPhone 16 – presuming you don’t mind the lack of official MagSafe support.
You gain USB-C, support for Apple Intelligence, as well as a suite of other upgrades, primarily at the cost of an ultra-wide lens. The main exception to this rule is the iPhone 15, where you’ll also be losing the Dynamic Island. Regardless of what iPhone you’re coming from, you’ll also gain the best battery life in any 6.1-inch iPhone.
Brought to you by Uniq: Check out the new rugged cases from Uniq including the glow in the dark Combat Active iPhone case featuring a textured grip for ultimate control and a reflective lanyard. And the Stride SE, a high-performance Apple Watch sports band built tough with durable FKM.
My favorite iPhone accessories on Amazon:
Follow Michael: X/Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram
