The iPhone e series, which focuses on affordable prices, will be updated in the first half of 2026. The latest news says that the iPhone 17e has entered the research and development stage and is expected to be released between February and May next year.
Compared to the iPhone 16e, the iPhone 17e’s biggest change is its screen. It will feature the same 6.1-inch Smart Island display as the iPhone 16, slightly smaller than the 6.3-inch screen on the iPhone 17. It will support a 60Hz refresh rate, meaning the notch will be completely gone on Apple phones.
Unlike the notch, the Smart Island can be used to display important information like countdowns and media playback status. This is achieved by cleverly “hiding” the camera cutout through UI design while still allowing for functional interaction.
In terms of configuration, the iPhone 17e will be equipped with Apple’s A19 chip. The current iPhone 16e is equipped with the A18 chip, which boasts six CPU cores and four GPU cores, one fewer GPU core than the A18 chip in the standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.
Apple is likely to adopt a similar strategy on the iPhone 17e, equipping it with the A19 chip, but the GPU core may be reduced. In addition, the A19 chip has added a neural network accelerator to improve the AI processing capabilities of the device, while also increasing the memory bandwidth.
