Apple can be quite frustrating – at first glance, the iPhone 17e barely seems to upgrade anything at all. But the more you look at its spec sheet, the more you start to think “this might actually be worth it.” Do you agree?
First, let’s go over the upgrades – this will be short. The new phone features an Apple A19 chipset, bringing a ton of performance for what is technically a mid-ranger. It also uses the improved Apple C1X modem, which is up to twice as fast as 16e’s C1.
Apple iPhone 17e
The display is the same 6.1” OLED panel that still runs at 60Hz and still has that chunky notch on top. However, it is now protected by the tougher Ceramic Shield 2 (3x better scratch resistance) and it has an anti-reflective coating.
The battery capacity is the same, 4,005mAh, and wired charging is the same (50% in 30 minutes). But wireless charging is now twice as fast at 15W (yes, the 16e only supported 7.5W wireless charging). More importantly, this is proper MagSafe charging, so the 17e has full access to the ecosystem of magnetic chargers and mounts – with or without a case.
iPhone 17e upgrades: Apple A19 chipset • Ceramic Shield 2 • MagSafe
And let’s not forget – the iPhone 17e has 256GB base storage now. Sure, you could get a 256GB 16e, but that was a $100 upgrade. All Pixel 10 phones except the Pro XL and Pro Fold start with 128GB storage. And until a week ago, the same was true of the base Galaxy S. 256GB base storage is a bigger deal than it may appear at first.
See? It feels like the 17e brings a bare minimum of upgrades and yet at the same time the 16e looks so much worse in comparison. There is a long list of upgrades that we might have wished for the 17e (bigger sensor, second camera, 120Hz display, Dynamic Island, etc.), but as the most affordable new iPhone, this is bound to have its fans.
So, what do you think – would you buy the iPhone 17e?
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