There came a point when I realized that flagship phones were overrated. This was the time when carriers moved away from subsidized phone prices and the best phones were finally cracking that $1,000 threshold. This is why I ended up buying the original iPhone SE, which proved to me that you can still get an excellent phone at a fraction of the price.
Now, however, Apple has effectively retired the SE series with the announcement of the iPhone 16e. As much as I would prefer having a true successor to the iPhone SE 2022, I’m reminded that the iPhone 16e has more in common with the rest of the iPhone 16 lineup. The new model is certainly a huge step up over the last iPhone SE, but Apple's making it harder than ever to decide whether to opt for the cheaper iPhone 16e or pay up for the iPhone 16.
