Apple Monday revealed the latest version of its budget iPhone range. The iPhone 17e costs $599 and will be available on March 11.
The smartphone comes with the A19 chip found in the base iPhone 17 and will support Apple Intelligence. The base model comes with 256GB of storage, which Apple says is double the entry-level storage of the previous generation.
One of the most notable changes from the previous budget iPhone is the addition of MagSafe and Qi2, which support up to 15W wireless charging.
The smartphone is available in black, white and a new soft pink color.
Additionally, the iPhone 17e comes with C1X, Apple’s latest generation cellular modem, which the company says is up to twice as fast as the C1 modem in the iPhone 16e and uses 30% less power.
As for the camera, the iPhone 17e features the same 48-megapixel camera as the iPhone 16e. The smartphone’s Fusion camera enables an optical-quality 2x telephoto lens, giving users two cameras in one so they can get closer to the subject and frame their shot easily, says the tech giant.
The smartphone takes videos with the ability to record in 4K with Dolby Vision at up to 60 fps. It also records videos in Spatial Audio for immersive listening with AirPods or Apple Vision Pro.
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The iPhone 17e is IP68 rated for dust and water resistance, and its 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display is protected by Ceramic Shield 2, which is said to offer three times better scratch resistance than the previous generation.
iPhone 17e supports Satellite Emergency SOS, Roadside Assistance and Find My.
The smartphone is made with 30% recycled content, including 85% recycled aluminum in the body and 100% recycled cobalt in the battery.
Aisha is a consumer news reporter at TechCrunch. Before joining the publication in 2021, she was a telecoms journalist at MobileSyrup. Aisha holds an honors degree from the University of Toronto and a master’s degree in journalism from Western University.
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