This year’s batch of iPhones had one big upgrade in common. All four, from the regular iPhone 17 to the iPhone 17 Pro Max, swapped out the tired old 12MP TrueDepth front-facing camera for a new 18MP Center Stage lens.
The Center Stage feature was originally introduced back with the 2021 iPad Pro, and allowed the camera to track moving subjects while on video calls — especially helpful for that period, when Zoom and FaceTime became almost essential thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.
With the iPhone 17 family, the Center Stage camera can also shift orientation from portrait to landscape, and the lens has been widened from 23mm to 20mm (lower being wider with lenses). It all works extremely well.
It was a pleasant surprise that Apple didn’t limit this upgrade to the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max models, and it looks like the company won’t be stopping there, either. According to a new research note from the analyst Jeff Pu, seen by 9to5Mac, the 18MP Center Stage camera will also come to next year’s iPhone 17e.
This is a surprise, given the ‘e’ series of iPhones is all about cost savings to hit a lower price point. Apple’s spiritual successor to the iPhone SE — the iPhone 16e — arrived at $599 with only one camera and missing MagSafe and Dynamic Island, alongside other trade offs.
Not including the new front-facing camera would seem a sensible trade-off with this in mind, but if Pu is correct, it seems Apple believes this new group-friendly camera upgrade is non-negotiable — even at the budget end of the market.
Pu’s note states the low-cost handset will arrive “in mid-1Q26”, which would suggest a February launch, given the first quarter covers January 1 to March 31.
Elsewhere, the iPhone 17e is tipped to inherit the new A19 chipset, Dynamic Island and come with unspecified design changes. These things certainly close the gap between it and its pricier siblings, but we’re not expecting the 120Hz ProMotion display upgrade or an additional camera, so there certainly will still be reasons to pay more.
Pu’s note states the low-cost handset will arrive “in mid-1Q26”, which would suggest a February launch, given the first quarter covers January 1 to March 31. That’s not too surprising given the iPhone 16e arrived on February 28 of this year.
The iPhone 16e, while undoubtedly a strong handset in its own right, ultimately proved a difficult sell. Unlike the iPhone SE, it was too expensive to take pride of place in our list of the best cheap phones, and with the iPhone 16 only $200 more, it felt hard to justify at its $599 starting price.
If Center Stage and Dynamic Island both arrive with the 2026 model, it will prove a more tempting proposition. Though by that point the iPhone 17 will have had five months of potential price drops, which might harm the 17e’s chances at launch. Perhaps that’s why Apple is reportedly planning to mix up the release schedule next year, tying the regular iPhone to the ‘e’ version with a delayed launch.
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