A week ago, Apple's CEO Tim Cook hinted that something big was on the horizon. Now, the company is ready to reveal what it has been working on. The company has announced the iPhone 16e, and it's shaping up to be a budget-friendly win for Apple fans.

Apple announces the iPhone 16e

As announced on the Apple Newsroom, the iPhone 16e sports an A18 chip, which Apple claims is 80% faster than the A13 Bionic chip you'll find in an iPhone 11. It's also built around the company's AI assistant, Apple Intelligence, with the company claiming that you can do quick image edits on the go.

The iPhone 16e also sports the Action button on its side. If this is the first you've heard of it, you can tweak what pressing the Action button does in the settings for ease of access. For instance, you can set it up to enable the flashlight, activate the Magnifier, or take voice memos.

Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPhone Product Marketing, is pretty pleased with the new device:

“iPhone 16e packs in the features our users love about the iPhone 16 lineup, including breakthrough battery life, fast performance powered by the latest-generation A18 chip, an innovative 2-in-1 camera system, and Apple Intelligence. We’re so excited for iPhone 16e to complete the lineup as a powerful, more affordable option to bring the iPhone experience to even more people.”

The iPhone 16e will be available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage capacities, starting at $599 in the US. It's quite a leap in price over the $429 that Apple asked for the iPhone SE, but it still makes for an excellent entry point for newcomers to the ecosystem.