Apple is launching a new product later today and it is all set to debut as the “newest member of the family”. It is expected that the iPhone SE which is rumoured to launch today, might drop the SE branding and could end up being called the iPhone 16E with mounting rumours pointing towards the change.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s next budget-friendly iPhone may be rebranded to align with the iPhone 16 series, moving away from the “SE” naming convention. This aligns with leaker Majin Bu’s claim from December 2024 (via MacRumors) that the device could be named the iPhone 16E or feature a variation incorporating “16” and “E.”
As Tim Cook calls it the newest member of the family, the iPhone 16E looks more likely to be the name than the iPhone SE where Cook could be referring to the iPhone 16 series when he says “family.”
The name iPhone 16E was first mentioned in December by Fixed Focus Digital, a Weibo account with over two million followers. Later that month, leaker Majin Bu on X also cited a source claiming that Apple’s next iPhone SE would be rebranded as the iPhone 16E.
As for what one could expect from the device, the new low-end iPhone is expected to receive a major hardware upgrade over the previous iPhone SE, featuring an iPhone 14-like design with a notch instead of a Dynamic Island. This notch will house Face ID, and the device could be powered by the latest A18 chip and may include support for Apple Intelligence as well.
Finally, for optics, the new affordable iPhone is said to get a 48MP primary rear camera and a 12MP front camera from the iPhone 15. However, there won’t be an ultra-wide angle camera.