Tim Prepare dinner, chief govt officer of Apple Inc., in the course of the first day of in-store gross sales of Apple’s newest merchandise at Apple’s Fifth Avenue retailer in New York, US, on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024.
Apple introduced a brand new iPhone mannequin on Wednesday that’s priced decrease than its most important iPhone fashions, which often come out in September.
The brand new iPhone is named iPhone 16e, and it’ll retail for $599 when it goes on sale later this month.
The brand new iPhone 16e does not have a house button and fingerprint sensor, as a substitute, it makes use of Apple’s FaceID scanner and fashionable design together with a sensor notch on the high of the display screen. It makes use of Apple’s A18 chip, which can be utilized in the principle iPhone 16 fashions. The up to date processor implies that the iPhone 16e can run all the identical apps and video games that costlier iPhones can run. It is available in black and white.
The cellphone additionally consists of Apple’s first mobile modem, which it calls C1. iPhones have used Qualcomm modems for the previous few years. It additionally has a single digicam lens, versus as many as three on probably the most superior iPhones.
Apple is releasing a brand new low-cost iPhone as gross sales have been combined in latest quarters and the corporate seeks progress for its most vital product class. For the December quarter, Apple’s total iPhone gross sales have been down 1% on an annual foundation. Apple nonetheless bought greater than $69 billion of telephones within the interval.
Low-end iPhones are vital to Apple because it will get new prospects into their ecosystem, and the brand new machine helps Apple Intelligence, making it Apple’s least costly new cellphone that may entry options like picture technology and notification summaries.
Apple’s present fashions are the iPhone 16, which begins at $799, and the iPhone 16 Professional, which begins at $999. Earlier than Wednesday’s launch, solely the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Professional fashions have been the one telephones with entry to Apple Intelligence.
Apple has launched a less-expensive iPhone mannequin to spherical out the underside of its lineup since 2016. The iPhone SE, because it was referred to as then, bought additional updates in 2020 and 2022. Usually, the iPhone SE reuses an older design than the latest iPhones, however Apple updates its elements resembling its processor so it may obtain ongoing software program updates.
After the previous iPhone SE sells out, there will not be any new iPhones with a fingerprint scanner. It was additionally inexpensive than the iPhone 16e at $429.
The launch additionally marks a brand new strategy to Apple’s well-known product launches, which garner media consideration all over the world. Beforehand, Apple would reveal new merchandise reside and onstage, at a presentation on its campus in California. In 2020, Apple stopped inviting folks to reside launches and began screening advertising movies on its web site and YouTube as a substitute.
In recent times, Apple has began to quietly launch new merchandise via press releases, resembling the brand new Macs it introduced final September. It could be testing how a lot buzz it may get for one in all these quieter launches. Final week, forward of Wednesday’s launch, Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner posted a message on social media: “Prepare to fulfill the latest member of the household.”
