iPhone e

About iPhone e

iPhone e is the cheapest way into a current generation iPhone. It is not the old model kept on sale at a discount, which is how Apple used to fill this slot. It is a phone built for the position: current silicon, current software support, one rear camera, and a deliberate list of things left out. In the current generation that phone is iPhone 17e, and Apple lists it at 599 dollars for 256GB and 799 dollars for 512GB, in black, white and soft pink. The line has a consistent character across generations. Apple keeps the parts that decide how the phone feels for the next five years, meaning the processor and the software, and trims the parts most buyers do not measure, meaning the second camera, the faster display and the faster charging. Whether that is a bargain or a false economy depends on which of those you actually notice.

What Apple keeps in the e model

The chip is the headline. Apple puts the current generation processor in the e model rather than last year's, and in iPhone 17e that is the A19, which Apple describes as a 6 core CPU with a 4 core GPU and a 16 core Neural Engine, built on a 3 nanometre process and specified to run Apple Intelligence. A phone with the current chip stays on the software update list for as long as its more expensive siblings, and that is the single most valuable thing the e model retains.

The other quiet keeper is Apple's own cellular modem. iPhone 17e carries the C1X, which Apple says is up to twice as fast as the C1 in iPhone 16e and uses 30 percent less energy than the modem in iPhone 16 Pro. The e line has been where Apple ships its modem work first. The rest of the retained list is short and sensible: a 6.1 inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with Ceramic Shield 2, a 48MP main camera that can shoot at 24MP by default, Night mode, Portrait mode, 4K Dolby Vision video at up to 60 fps, MagSafe and Qi2 charging at up to 15W, the Action button, and 256GB as the starting storage.

What Apple leaves out

The omissions are consistent and worth knowing before you buy. MacRumors, comparing iPhone 17e with iPhone 17 directly, lists a 60Hz display against the standard model's ProMotion panel running up to 120Hz, 800 nits typical brightness against 1000, a 6.1 inch screen against 6.3, a 12MP front camera against an 18MP one with Center Stage, no ultra wide rear camera and therefore no macro and no spatial video, a 4 core GPU against 5, and slower wired charging at 50 percent in about 30 minutes against 20.

Macworld's review adds the design details: the e model uses a notch rather than the Dynamic Island, has no always on display, and has no Camera Control. None of these are hidden. All of them are the reason the phone costs 200 dollars less than the standard iPhone at the same storage tier.

How the 60Hz display actually reads in use

Refresh rate is the compromise people argue about most, and it is the one that is hardest to judge from a specification sheet. A 60Hz panel is not slow. It is what every iPhone used until recently and what most phones at this price still use. What you lose is the smoothness of scrolling and animation, and the always on clock that a variable refresh panel makes possible.

The honest test is whether you have used a 120Hz phone daily. Somebody moving up from an older iPhone will find the e model's screen brighter and sharper than what they had and will not miss what they never used. Somebody stepping down from a recent Pro will notice within an hour. This is a preference that only your own eyes settle, and it is worth handling both phones in a shop before deciding.

Who the e model is for

Macworld put the audience plainly: the e model suits people upgrading from an older handset such as an iPhone 12 or 13, people switching from Android, and people buying their first smartphone. Its verdict called the phone a balancing act with mostly the right compromises, praising performance, design and battery life while naming the omissions as real.

It is also the right phone for a second line, for a work handset, for a teenager, and for anyone who wants a current iPhone that will keep receiving updates without paying for camera hardware they will not use. If your photography is people, documents and holiday snaps at normal distances, the single 48MP camera covers it, and Apple's 2x crop from that sensor gives a usable short zoom without a second lens.

Who should buy something else

If photography matters to you, buy something else. Macworld was direct about this: if photography is your top priority, look elsewhere. One rear camera means no ultra wide, no macro and no genuine optical zoom, and those are the three situations where a phone camera visibly fails rather than merely softens.

If you already own a recent iPhone, the e model is not an upgrade. It is a sideways move at best and a downgrade on display and camera. If you watch a lot of video or play games, the larger and brighter ProMotion screen on the standard iPhone is worth the difference. If you shoot for work, the Pro line and its telephoto lens is the only tier that answers.

One more caution worth carrying to the shop. TechRadar has pointed out that the standard iPhone is discounted often enough that the gap between the two can shrink to very little, at which point the e model stops being the sensible purchase. Check both prices on the day you buy rather than assuming the 200 dollar gap holds.