An iPhone 17e Is Reportedly on Track for Next Spring
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It didn’t take long after the iPhone 16e went on sale earlier this year for us to start hearing buzz on whether Apple planned to make this new budget model an annual release. While that wasn’t entirely clear from the outset, we’ve been seeing more evidence that Apple is already ramping up production of an iPhone 17e for next spring.
That shouldn’t have come as a big surprise. After all, the biggest clue is right in the name: Apple chose to make the new “budget” phone a full-fledged member of the iPhone 16 family. The truly budget model that it replaced, the iPhone SE, had a name that let it linger for a few years without feeling dated, but an iPhone 16e will feel pretty stale when Apple is preparing to release its iPhone 18 lineup in 2026.
It’s too early to say if the “e-series” iPhones are merely another experiment on Apple’s part. The company tried two generations of iPhone mini and three iPhone Plus models, all of which ended up being flops in the grand scheme of things. That’s not to say these models weren’t popular, but they weren’t popular enough to justify Apple keeping them around, especially when sources pointed to market research that suggested most iPhone mini and iPhone Plus buyers would have opted for the standard model if those other options hadn’t been available.
However, the iPhone 16e is a horse of a slightly different color, as it’s effectively Apple’s most affordable iPhone. Granted, at $599 it’s not exactly a small step up from the $429 iPhone SE, but it’s still $200 less than the mainstream iPhone 16. It’s not hard to imagine it could be attracting a group of customers who might otherwise give the newest iPhone models a pass this year.
Either way, Apple usually gives its experiments more than one release before it declares a final verdict. The iPhone 16e may also be unusual in Apple’s world, but it fits right into the broader smartphone market, where Apple’s biggest rivals have been releasing third-tier “budget flagships” for years. That meant the safe money was on Apple following up the iPhone 16e with an iPhone 17e next year.
In April, Fixed Focus Digital, the leaker that first predicted the iPhone 16e name, claimed the iPhone 17e was already in the trial production stage. They predicted a target release date of May 2026, which would have aligned the iPhone 17e with competing phones from Google and Xiaomi, but that part may be pure speculation, as it’s unlikely even Apple has nailed down a release date yet.
While the iPhone 16e isn’t in quite the same league as its spiritual predecessor, the iPhone SE, those earlier budget models always landed in March or April. This year’s February release was unusually early, but that was likely to get an affordable iPhone back on the market in the European Union after legacy Lightning models were banned. This took not only the iPhone SE off the shelves, but also the more affordable iPhone 14, which was the model the iPhone 16e more directly replaced in that price slot.
Other analysts have been more circumspect about launch timing. In May, Ming-Chi Kuo laid out what he believed to be Apple’s 2026–27 roadmap, indicating that the iPhone 17e would arrive in the first half of 2026.
Last week, Korea’s The Elec and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman both confirmed that the iPhone 17e is in the works for an early 2026 launch. While Gurman didn’t offer any specifics, The Elec claims that the iPhone 17e won’t see any meaningful display changes from the current model.
The report notes that Apple plans to use the same OLED panel in next year’s budget iPhone, which means that its early 2026 e-series model will still sport a screen that first debuted on the 2022 iPhone 14.
That will help Apple keep costs down, but little else is known about any other improvements that might come to next year’s model. It’s a safe bet that it will get the same A19 chip that debuts in the iPhone 17 this fall, but it might otherwise be a relatively modest update. The iPhone 16e lacks features that have become standard on the rest of Apple’s lineup, like MagSafe and an Ultra Wideband chip for things like Digital Keys and precision finding. There’s no word on whether that will change with next year’s model.
Beyond 2026, Apple may change its release cycle even more dramatically. Several sources suggest Apple’s September 2026 event will herald the release of the “iPhone Fold,” at which point Kuo believes that Apple will make its fall events solely about the premium flagships, and shift the standard “iPhone 18” to the spring to be launched alongside an iPhone 18e. However, this has yet to be corroborated by any other reliable sources, and even if Kuo’s information is correct, Apple’s plans could change in the next year or so.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
