The iPhone 16e was introduced this February as not only the most affordable member of the iPhone 16 lineup, but it also served as the spiritual successor to the iPhone SE. So, when would we see a follow-up model to the iPhone 16e? In the past, a new generation of the iPhone SE was introduced once every few years; however, it seems we’re now getting a different treatment for the budget-oriented iPhone model; in other words, it looks like we’re going to see Apple introduce the iPhone 17e this coming spring. This time, the iPhone 17e is going to get even more notable changes, according to a Weibo leaker known as “Digital Chat Station”.
First, the iPhone 17e is expected to ditch the notch in favor of the more intuitive Dynamic Island. This feature was originally introduced on the iPhone 14 Pro before it made its way to all the iPhone 15 models. Both the non-Pro and Pro iPhone 16 models feature the Dynamic Island, but the iPhone 16e still retains the notch that was first seen on the iPhone X. So it would be very nice to see the Dynamic Island finally become a standard across the entire iPhone lineup once the iPhone 17e adopts that feature.
Second, the iPhone 17e is expected to feature a more modern design. As you know, the current iPhone 16e has a design that’s very similar to the iPhone 14 that the iPhone 16e replaced. The iPhone 15’s design features slightly rounded edges, so it’s possible that the next iPhone 17e’s design could be based on that device. Additionally, since the iPhone 16e also shares the same display specs as the iPhone 14, we could also see an upgraded display on the iPhone 17e with specs that would match those on the iPhone 15. The max/peak brightness on the iPhone 15 are 1000 and 1600 nits, respectively, compared to 800 and 1200 nits (respectively) on the iPhone 16e.
Last, but not least, the iPhone 17e is expected to feature the upcoming A19 chip that will debut on the base iPhone 17; however, it’s likely that the iPhone 17e will use the binned variant of the A19 chip, given that the current iPhone 16e uses the binned A18 chip with 4 GPU cores.
It looks like the iPhone ‘e’ model will receive yearly upgrades in the spring; however, starting in spring 2027, the base iPhone model will join the ‘e’ model as part of Apple’s spring refresh since Apple is rumored to reserve its fall releases for its Air, Pro, Pro Max, and the highly anticipated Fold model starting next fall (2026).
