iPhone 17E Release Date, Price, and Specs – News & Rumors

Key Takeaways:

• Options: Apple would possibly embody MagSafe on the iPhone 17E.
• Release date: Probably as quickly as February.
• Value: There have been no leaks about worth will increase, which is sweet information at this level.
• Design: Might get the Dynamic Island and look extra like an iPhone 15.

Apple’s decrease-value iPhone line is predicted to proceed with an iPhone 17E reportedly releasing early this 12 months. If that is true, the sequel to final 12 months’s iPhone 16E has a variety of room to step up. 

Some rumors level to enhancements borrowed from Apple’s iPhone 15, akin to Dynamic Island and MagSafe. If these are true, it may make the decrease-value iPhone 17E a compelling worth choice with fewer commerce-offs wanted to hit a cheaper price.

Apple’s $599 iPhone 16E was a little bit of an oddity when it was launched final 12 months. It changed Apple’s $429 iPhone SE, successfully retiring the older iPhone SE design that included a house button with Contact ID. Apple’s new “funds” gadget was a pricier amalgamation, that includes the physique of an iPhone 14 with a show notch. It additionally had the USB-C port from the iPhone 15 and the A18 processor from the iPhone 16 to assist Apple Intelligence options. 

To save cash, Apple scaled again on options by together with solely a single 48-megapixel major digicam and omitting Apple’s MagSafe clip-on functionality (although it saved customary wi-fi charging). Whereas the iPhone 16E is a strong starter iPhone, I discovered these omissions to be complicated, particularly provided that Apple elevated the value of this entry-stage iPhone from $429 to $599. 

An iPhone 17E may observe a playbook nearer to Samsung’s Galaxy S25 FE. It might have most of the similar options because the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17, just like the smaller display screen notch and an A19 processor, together with smaller stepbacks to the {hardware} that is perhaps much less noticeable. 

Apple hasn’t confirmed whether or not an iPhone 17E exists but, however we’re preserving a watch out. Listed below are the rumors we have heard thus far, with options that might assist or hinder the extra funds-pleasant iPhone 17E.

Watch this: iPhone 16E Evaluate

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iPhone 17E launch date: February 2026

The iPhone 17E may very well be introduced as early as February, in accordance with a Mashable report citing the Digital Chat Station Weibo account. The telephone is alleged to be launching within the first half of the 12 months. This is able to align with the iPhone 16E’s February 2025 announcement, establishing winter as Apple’s most well-liked launch window for cheaper iPhone fashions. 

There are even rumors suggesting the base iPhone 18 will launch within the first half of 2027, however let’s not get too forward of ourselves.

iPhone 17E design: Will get a Dynamic Island

One side that made the iPhone 16E stand out was Apple’s new design, which featured the iPhone 14’s physique, a USB-C port and a single digicam. 

The iPhone 17E, nonetheless, will allegedly look extra like 2023’s iPhone 15, with a smaller Dynamic Island cutout, in accordance with the identical Digital Chat Station Weibo put up. The iPhone 17E is rumored to have a 6.1-inch show with a cutout, together with dynamically sized notifications for timers and app alerts, akin to Uber pickups. That show may have thinner bezels surrounding it in contrast with the iPhone 16E, says The Elec. 

This design is corroborated by the Good Pikachu Weibo account, which additionally notes that the iPhone 17E may have a 60Hz refresh charge display screen somewhat than the 120Hz one seen throughout the iPhone 17 line and the iPhone Air. It might be good to see a 17E with a 120Hz show, dubbed ProMotion by Apple. However that is one space that may very well be much less noticeable to individuals coming from a former iPhone SE or an older base mannequin just like the iPhone 14.

Whereas Apple’s ProMotion shows have been accessible on Professional fashions for years — in addition to on virtually each Android telephone that prices $300 and extra — the smoother animations and all the time-on shows it supplies will not be as noticeable when switching from a telephone that by no means had them.

iPhone 17E options: MagSafe wi-fi charging

It baffled me that Apple did not embody MagSafe with final 12 months’s iPhone 16E. The characteristic, which permits for sticking magnetic equipment like chargers and wallets with out a case, has been on most iPhone fashions since 2020. It felt like an odd omission, since Apple contributed MagSafe’s charging and magnetic profiles to the Qi2 customary, each of that are on Google’s Pixel 10 telephones, HMD’s Skyline, and the upcoming Clicks Communicator.

The iPhone 17E is rumored to have a glass again that helps magnetic wi-fi charging — possible which means the telephone would acquire the flexibility to magnetically connect to MagSafe and Qi2 equipment, in accordance with a report in The Data noticed by 9to5Mac. This is able to be a serious enchancment for somebody coming to this telephone from an iPhone SE or the iPhone 11, each of which do assist Qi wi-fi charging however don’t embody magnets for attaching equipment and instances. 

Whereas we would want extra particulars, hopefully, the inclusion of MagSafe additionally means the iPhone 17E’s wi-fi charging velocity would improve to at the very least 15 watts, matching the iPhone 15.

iPhone 17E pricing

We’ll preserve updating this story as extra iPhone 17E rumors arrive. Whereas there is not a lot concerning the pricing of the rumored telephone, final 12 months’s iPhone 16E begins at $599 for a 128GB mannequin. I am hoping the iPhone 17E begins at 256GB of storage, like the bottom iPhone 17. Apple nonetheless sells each the 16E and the iPhone 16 at 128GB, with the latter beginning at $699.