Apple recently overhauled its budget iPhone line, as the company got rid of the SE designation entirely and launched the iPhone 16e, with features similar to the vanilla iPhone 16. Moreover, the iPhone 16e isn’t going to be a one-off announcement from the Cupertino-based tech giant, as according to a new report, Apple will unveil the successor next year at a similar timeline and a few months after the launch of the iPhone 17 series this year.
iPhone 17e could be officially introduced in February 2026: Key details
According to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) analysts, Apple's new ‘e’ series phones could be part of a regular release cycle program going forward as the company will reportedly launch the iPhone 17e around a similar time frame next year, which means February 2026 release. Moreover, the report confirms that the upcoming iPhone 17e will be launched after the standard iPhone 17 models, which will debut later this year, possibly at the annual September event.
By launching an affordable iPhone 17e in February after the major launch event in September, Apple could be trying to imitate Google's Pixel series introduction pattern, as the company usually releases its budget model with the latest features after releasing its annual number series in the preceding year.
Moreover, this is a big change from Apple’s SE release timeline. The first iPhone SE came in March 2016, while the iPhone SE was released in April 2020. In contrast, the third-generation model was launched in March 2022. The report also adds that Apple is trying to replace the success of 2013's iPhone 5C with the new iPhone 16e, as the iPhone 5c accounted for almost 25% of the iPhone sales during its first few selling quarters in 2013-2014 by providing an entry point to iPhones with the latest hardware.
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