Apple revamped its budget iPhone series in 2025 with the launch of the iPhone 16e. The Cupertino consumer tech brand is expected to carry forward this rebranded affordable iPhone strategy in 2026 with the launch of the iPhone 17e.
As per tipster Digital Chat Station (DCS), Apple is hard at work readying the iPhone 17e to become the successor of the Apple iPhone 16e. However, based on what the tipster has revealed, looks like not much will change with the upcoming iPhone.
For starters, it will still reportedly feature the same 6.1-inch 60 Hz Super Retina XDR OLED display that we saw with the 16e. The only big change this time could be the addition of the Dynamic Island module. If true, Apple will finally rid the iPhone 17e of the chunky old notch that it used to differentiate "premium" from "budget" with the 16e.
However, it is important to note that we have obtained this information by translating DCS's post. Hence, it could very well be lost in translation.
.webp)
Under the hood, Apple is looking to outfit the “cheap” iPhone with the upcoming A19 chipset, which should first debut with the Apple iPhone 17. However, if we take the case of iPhone 16e into consideration, the A19 on the 17e will differ from that of the 17 in terms of a missing GPU core.
Apart from this, the iPhone 17e is expected to retain the same 48 MP main camera and the 12 MP selfie shooter with Face ID support as that of the 16e. It will also likely bear a single rear camera setup.
At the time of writing, this is all that DCS's post has mentioned. Based on the iPhone 16e launch, we expect the iPhone 17e to further feature the following specs:
- Ceramic Shield protection
- iOS 26
- IP68 water and dust resistance
- 4K @ 60 FPS video recording from front and back
- Stereo speakers
- Action Button
- Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
With that said, these are mostly speculations so take them with a pinch of salt. Since the launch of the iPhone 17e is expected to happen in early 2026, we expect more details to surface in the coming months.
