New, cheaper iPhone 16e has 'best battery life ever,' Apple says

(NEXSTAR) – The iPhone 16e, unveiled by Apple on Wednesday, has AI features, a high-resolution camera, and the "best battery life" of any iPhone of its size, the company said.

"iPhone 16e has the best battery life ever on a 6.1-inch iPhone, lasting up to six hours longer than iPhone 11 and up to 12 hours longer than all generations of iPhone SE," Apple said in its announcement.

The standard iPhone 16, released last fall, is also a 6.1-inch model. Apple says it has up to 22 hours of video playback. Meanwhile, the newer and cheaper 16e has a battery that can power up to 26 hours of video playback.

The 16e is also the cheapest iPhone that Apple is selling right now. It's the fourth version of a model that’s sold at a dramatically lower price than the iPhone’s standard and premium models. The previous bargain-bin models were called the iPhone SE, with the last version coming out in 2022.

But the 16e isn't exactly cheap. The price starts at $599, a 40% increase from $430 for the last iPhone SE.

To compare, a standard iPhone 16 starts at $799. In both cases, more phone storage costs more money.

The 16e has a long list of other upgrades when compared to the last SE, including USB C charging, Face ID to unlock the phone, an "Action" button that can be customized to open the phone's camera or unlock your car, and a chip that accommodates Apple's new AI features.

Although Apple has been hyping its foray into AI since last June, the complete set of features still haven’t been released in the U.S. and the technology still isn’t even available in some parts of the world.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.