Apple introduced the iPhone 17e on Monday, but is it worth an upgrade from the iPhone 16e? The new phone retains its predecessor’s 6.1‑inch OLED display and display notch, so you won’t see any benefits from the controversial Dynamic Island, but it does offer a faster A19 chip, MagSafe support, and more storage at the same base price.
The biggest upgrade comes from the A19 processor, with a faster CPU and GPU and stronger on‑device AI capabilities. Apple also doubles the phone’s base storage from 128GB on the iPhone 16e to 256GB on the iPhone 17e. While the iPhone 16e supported wireless charging, you couldn’t attach a charger because it lacked MagSafe compatibility. Thankfully, MagSafe has arrived on the 17e, which lets users snap on not just chargers but also other accessories that historically have only worked on higher‑end iPhones.
On the camera side, the iPhone 17e keeps the 16e’s 48MP main camera. The front camera has purportedly been tuned for better performance in dim environments, but its hardware improvements are modest. Battery capacity is also close to that of the 16e, but with a newer chip and a more efficient C1X 5G modem, it should offer slightly longer times between charges.
When you compare this leap to Google’s Pixel 9a-to-Pixel 10a jump, the iPhone 17e upgrade is a bit more impressive. The Pixel 10a mainly offers a brighter display, tougher glass, satellite SOS, and faster charging over the 9a, but brings no upgrades to the chipset, as it still uses 2024’s Tensor G4.
