The iPhone 17e could launch at the same price as the iPhone 16e.
At the same time, it's thought that the new phone will feature A19 processing, new modem and networking hardware, as well as MagSafe charging.
The iPhone 17e is expected to launch at the same price as the iPhone 16e, maintaining its position as Apple's cheapest iPhone model. The phone will receive some updates, however, meaning that you'll get more for your money than last time around.
According to Mark Gurman, writing in his Power On newsletter, the new model will have the A19 chip and MagSafe charging, while it will also get the latest wireless chips.
Recently, Apple moved to offering its own wireless chips, including a modem and a networking chip, which should also feature in the phone.
The move to the A19 will put the iPhone 17e on par with the base iPhone 17 model, but there's a chance that Apple will skip out on one of the GPU processors like it did with the iPhone 16e, so there could be a minor difference in performance.
Gurman goes on to confirm that the iPhone 17e will start at $599 (£599 / €699), so it looks like it's going to be the same price as the previous phone. That was to be expected, with the iPhone 16 now $699 (£699 / €849) and the iPhone 17 at $799 (£799 / €949), there's nowhere for the price to really go.
What we know about the iPhone 17e so far
Previous rumours suggested that the iPhone 17e would be announced on 19 February, which is exactly 1 year since the launch of the previous model. However, that's a Thursday and Apple typically launches devices on a Monday or Tuesday. Tuesday is 17 February, which feels too tempting to miss…
We'd previously heard that the iPhone 17e could make the switch to Dynamic Island, getting rid of the notch from the display that houses the Face ID hardware. But in a more recent leak, this was rowed back and it's now expected that there won't be any changes to the display.
That at least means that there's still a gulf between the iPhone 17 and the cheaper iPhone 17e, with enough in the more expensive phone's locker to differentiate between the two.
The iPhone 17e will go head-to-head with the new Pixel 10a that's expected to launch in the coming week too, and given the rumoured timeframe, will launch before Samsung has the chance to announce the Galaxy S26 family of devices – at an event thought to be taking place on 25 February.
The iPhone 16e was generally well received, although the price was seen as a little too high by some.
While the RRP is worthy of consideration, network deals have made the iPhone 16e the cheapest iPhone to own by quite some margin – with the advantage of offer pretty much the same software experience as its more expensive family.
