iPhone 16e pre-orders – where to buy Apple’s first AI phone
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ALL hail Apple's latest smartphone! The iPhone 16e is now available to pre-order.
Apple’s first budget-friendly phone is packed with AI-powered features - read on to find out where it's available to buy.
This February sees the launch of a brand-new iPhone, just as three popular models have been discontinued.
The iPhone 16e was made available to pre-order on Friday (21st February).
It will then go on general sale at the end of the week (Friday 28th February).
It seems to be positioned by Apple as a follow-up to its budget-friendly iPhone SE series, the last of which was released in 2022.
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The all-new 16e comes with many of the features of the rest of the iPhone 16 range.
You can create your own emoji, edit people out of your selfies (goodbye, photobombers), and even get your notifications summarised so you don’t waste time scrolling through everything.
Here’s everything you need to know about the iPhone 16e, including the price and where to pre-order.
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Get 3 months free Apple TV+ & £10 Currys gift card
Mobiles.co.uk is offering some nice giveaways with its iPhone 16e plans. Pre-order the new device, and you can also claim 3 months Apple TV+, Apple Music or Apple Arcade.
On top of that, you can .
Contracts start at
Apple iPhone 16e price
The iPhone 16e for the base model, which comes with 128GB of storage.
If you need more space, you’ll need to spend £699 for the 256GB version and £899 for the 512GB model.
The 16e is priced within what feels more like mid-range territory, compared to the 2022 iPhone SE, which cost £419 when it launched.
But compared to the iPhone 16, which starts at £799 for the same 128GB storage, it's a much cheaper - if not outright cheap - device.
Apple iPhone 16e - where to pre-order
The iPhone 16e is available to buy SIM-free basis, which is ideal if you've already got a SIM contract.
But if you’d rather spread the cost, you can also pick it up on a pay-monthly deal from pretty much all major UK providers.
SIM-Free
- Amazon, from £599 –
- Apple, from £599 –
Pay-Monthly
- Mobiles.co.uk, from £25.99 per month –
- Carphone Warehouse, from £25.99 per month –
- Vodafone, from £41.80 per month –
- EE, from £25.83 per month –
- Three –
- Tesco Mobile, from £30.49 per month –
- Mobiles Phones Direct, from £28 per month -
- Uswitch, from £24 per month -
iPhone 16e vs iPhone 16: What's the difference?
The iPhone 16e and iPhone 16 may look similar, but there are key differences to consider.
The iPhone 16e has a single 48MP main camera with 1x and 2x optical zoom, while the iPhone 16 adds a 12MP ultra-wide lens for more versatile shots.
The iPhone 16 also packs advanced features like macro photography and Cinematic mode for 4K Dolby Vision, which the 16e lacks.
On the front, the iPhone 16 includes Apple’s Dynamic Island for an interactive display experience, while the 16e sticks to the older notch design.
Both phones feature OLED screens, but the iPhone 16 is brighter, with up to 1,600 nits peak HDR brightness compared to the 16e’s 1,200 nits.
MagSafe compatibility is another big difference.
The iPhone 16 supports MagSafe accessories and faster wireless charging, but the 16e only offers basic Qi wireless charging at up to 7.5W.
Both devices share the A18 chip, but the 16e has a slightly less powerful four-core GPU.
But the 16e pulls ahead in battery life, offering up to 26 hours of video playback versus the iPhone 16’s 22 hours.
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The 16e is a solid budget choice, but the iPhone 16 offers more for photography and accessory fans.
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