With the iPhone 16e, Apple tried to revive the affordable iPhone segment by offering a familiar form factor and capable hardware. But despite that, 2025’s cheapest iPhone release wasn’t as hot and popular as the other ones. Well, that could change with the arrival of the iPhone 17e.
With detailed rumors pouring in for over six months now, the iPhone 17e is among the most-anticipated Apple product launches in the first half of the year, and so far, the rumor mill has only been kind to the device. So, without any further ado, here’s everything we know about the iPhone 17e.
Release date and price rumors
While some rumors suggested a February 19 launch date for the iPhone 17e, that didn’t happen. Instead, the phone should break cover at the “special Apple experience” media briefing sessions on March 4, 2026.
Apple is holding press briefings in three cities around the world — New York, London, and Shanghai — which sounds like the perfect time to introduce the world to the new, better, and, most importantly, cheaper iPhone.
Pre-orders for the iPhone could begin either as the event ends or the next day, with general availability from around the second week of March.
But exactly how cheap could the iPhone be? Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests that the iPhone 17e (128GB) could retain the iPhone 16e’s launch price of $599. Despite rumored hardware upgrades, the company might freeze the smartphone’s launch price for another year.
Despite all the reports about the ongoing memory crisis, Apple’s long-term partnership with its suppliers and the scale of its operations give it a unique advantage over other brands, even as other smartphone makers (including global giants like Samsung) struggle to control smartphone prices.
Design and display
Apple’s iPhone 16e is often criticized for its outdated design (it’s the gigantic notch at the top of the screen that bothers some buyers). Well, that could go away with the iPhone 17e, as it’s rumored to replace the ugly notch with the Dynamic Island (as seen on the recent iPhones).
I strongly believe that the iPhone 17e could borrow its screen from the baseline iPhone 15, facilitating the Dynamic Island and thinner bezels. The choice of materials — an aluminum frame sandwiched between two layers of glass — should remain the same as well.
Apart from the classic black and white finishes, the iPhone 17e should be available in a new purple or lavender finish, appealing to younger buyers and helping the handset compete with the variety of colors the Pixel 10a is available in.
Coming to the screen, the iPhone 17e is rumored to ship with a 6.1-inch OLED screen (smaller than the 6.3-inch screen on the regular iPhone 17) that supports a 60Hz refresh rate and 2,000 nits of peak brightness, making it, well, usable.
No ProMotion display, no dramatic upgrades in brightness, just the regular, Apple-fashioned refinement. In terms of design, the iPhone 17e will likely mirror the iPhone 15 from the front and the iPhone 16e from the back.
Performance and software
Under its familiar hood, the iPhone 17e should feature Apple’s A19 (3nm) chip, perhaps a binned version with one fewer GPU core (five instead of six). I’ve been using the iPhone 17, powered by the A19 chip, as a daily driver, and the chip has more computational power than I can use on most days.
Further, the chipset could be paired with Apple’s in-house C1X modem (similar to the iPhone Air), which should offer faster 5G speeds and up to 30% better energy efficiency than the C1 modem. If that happens, the ‘e’ series iPhone might also get the N1 wireless chip.
Like the iPhone 16e, the iPhone 17e could also feature 8GB of RAM, which is the bare minimum to support Apple Intelligence (both current and upcoming features).
The handset might get a storage upgrade to 256GB on the base variant, but I’ll not be surprised if Apple continues with 128GB base storage (since it is expected to retain the $599 price). The top variant, like last year, should get 512GB of storage.
Out of the box, the iPhone 17e should run iOS 26 (perhaps iOS 26.3 or iOS 26.4), with all Apple Intelligence features (including Writing Tools, Gemoji, Clean Up, and more).
And no, the revamped version of Siri might not be available on the iPhone 17e, as it’s delayed to iOS 26.5 or iOS 27. Like other iPhones, the cheapest iPhone should also get new iOS versions for around five to six years before Apple drops support.
Cameras and battery
The only back camera on the iPhone 17e should feature a 48MP Fusion camera sensor, which allows capturing images at 24MP or 48MP resolution, along with optical-quality 2x in-sensor zoom, and Dolby Vision HDR video recording (up to 4K at 60 fps).
What I’m curious to see is whether Apple goes with the same 1/2.55-inch sensor on the iPhone 16e or upgrades the camera with the 1/1.56-inch sensor found on the iPhone 16 or iPhone 17.
If you’ve heard about and envied the Center Stage camera on the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17e could be your chance to unlock the marvellous selfie experience for yourself and your friends. Rumors indicate that the latest ‘e’ series iteration could ship with the 18MP square-sensor front camera we’ve seen on the iPhone 17 series.
Beyond the cameras, the purported entrant to the latest iPhone lineup could come with a 4,005 mAh battery, which is larger than that on the iPhone 17. If that happens, the iPhone 17e could offer around 30 hours of video playback (up from 26 hours), making battery life a major selling point for buyers.
If that’s not enough, Apple is also considering adding MagSafe charging to the handset, and the faster one (up to 25W), no less. Apart from unlocking convenient wireless charging, MagSafe also unlocks support for plethora of accessories.
So, whether it’s the design, display, performance, optics, or battery life, the iPhone 17e should get upgrades across the board, which would make it one of the easiest recommendations for prospective iPhone buyers on a budget, but with known compromises like a single-camera setup and the lack of ProMotion (120Hz) display.
Source: www.digitaltrends.com
