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Apple announced the iPhone 17e on Monday morning, as it maintains its commitment to more affordable devices. While rumors about a redesign didn’t come true, the company seems to have listened to its customers, as the new iPhone 17e brings several improvements over the previous generation, including MagSafe support, double the storage at a lower price, updated processors, and more.
This device, which will be available to pre-order starting Wednesday, March 4 in over 70 countries, is just one of several new products Apple is expected to introduce this week, as it’s holding a special experience in New York, London, and Shanghai. Besides the iPhone 17e, the company also introduced a new iPad Air featuring the M4 chip on Monday.
“iPhone 17e combines powerful performance and features our users love at an exceptional value, making it a compelling option for customers looking to upgrade to the iPhone 17 family,” said Kaiann Drance, Apple’s VP of Worldwide iPhone Product Marketing. “We know our customers want a product that will last, and iPhone 17e delivers just that. With A19 for incredible performance, double the entry storage, a smarter camera system, and enhanced durability, iPhone 17e is designed to stay fast, secure, and valuable for years to come.” Let’s see what Apple’s latest smartphone brings to the table.
iPhone 17e brings an inside-out upgrade
Following in the iPhone 16e’s footsteps, the iPhone 17e features the same processor available on the iPhone 17 lineup: the A19 chip. With a 6-core CPU containing two performance and four efficiency cores, Apple also removed one GPU core from this processor, as it features four, instead of five. Still, the chip still adds Neural Accelerators to each of the available cores, and it also offers a 16-core Neural Engine. Apple says that the iPhone 17e is up to twice as fast as the iPhone 11, as owners of older models are among this device’s target audience.
The iPhone 17e features the C1X 5G modem, which is already twice as fast than the C1 model introduced with the iPhone 16e. With the same 5G speeds of the iPhone Air, this device will also be compatible with the new privacy feature introduced with iOS 26.3, which lets users hide their location from carriers.
Another important change available with this iPhone is that it now comes with 256GB of storage instead of 128GB. Not only does this make the full lineup more cohesive, but it means that customers are getting more storage at the same price point. This is especially notable because Apple charged $100 more for the iPhone 17 base model over the iPhone 16 due in part to its increased storage.
More details about the iPhone 17e
In addition to Black and Silver options, the new iPhone 17e features a Pink colorway, bringing an additional option to the lineup for the first time. Apple also fixed the most frustrating part of the previous generation, as it now offers MagSafe capabilities on the iPhone 17e. This change opens up an entire market of MagSafe-compatible accessories to this phone, in addition to faster wireless charging speeds. The iPhone can be charged wirelessly at up to 15W, and it can also be fast charged via cable, going from 0% to 50% in 30 minutes.
Another important upgrade for this device is the new Ceramic Shield 2 technology, just introduced with the iPhone 17 lineup. Apple has made the iPhone more resistant to drops, as well as three times more scratch resistant than the previous generation. An improved anti-reflection layer also helps to reduce glare, and make the OLED display on this device better.
It’s also important to note that Apple still offers the same iPhone 14-like design on the iPhone 17e, which means no Dynamic Island. This new model also lacks the variable refresh rate that all of the iPhone 17 models feature. Last but not least, this device continues to miss out on Camera Control, a camera functionality that is available on the rest of the lineup.
