Brought to you by Uniq:Check out the new rugged cases from Uniq including the glow in the dark Combat Active iPhone case featuring a textured grip for ultimate control and a reflective lanyard. And the Stride SE, a high-performance Apple Watch sports band built tough with durable FKM. Yesterday, Apple launched the new iPhone 16e, the cheapest new iPhone model in the lineup. It brings Apple Intelligence, Face ID, USB-C, the 48MP Fusion camera, and much more all down to a starting price of just $599.Obviously, the iPhone 16e is a noteworthy upgrade over the iPhone SE 3. However, theres an easy comparison to be made to previous generation entry-level iPhones, such as the iPhone 12, 13, 14 and even iPhone 15 for many great reasons. Well be diving into that here.iPhone 12 vs iPhone 16eiPhone 12 was the first iPhone redesign since the iPhone X, introducing the boxy design language that lives on in the iPhone lineup to this day. It was the first iPhone with 5G, using a somewhat-inefficient early generation Qualcomm 5G modem. On the other hand, iPhone 16e uses Apples first in-house 5G modem, with large power efficiency gains.Between USB-C, the smaller notch, Apple Intelligence, and the larger camera sensor iPhone 16e is nearly a no-brainer upgrade.iPhone 12iPhone 16eDisplay6.1 OLED w/ larger notch 625 nits of brightness6.1 OLED w/ smaller notch 800 nits of brightnessCameraWide: 12MPUltrawide: 12MPWide: 48MPUltrawide: N/AProcessorApple A14: 6 core CPU 4 core GPU 16 core Neural EngineApple A18: 6 core CPU 4 core GPU 16 core Neural EngineChargingLightning up to 20WMagSafe up to 15WUSB-C up to 20WQi charging up to 7.5WApple IntelligenceNo supportFully supportedConnectivity Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 Sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.3 Sub-6GHz 5GBattery 17 hours of video playback26 hours of video playbackAdditional features Ring/mute switch Emergency SOS N/A N/A Action Button Emergency SOS via Satellite Crash Detection Photographic StylesiPhone 13 vs iPhone 16eTheres a number of noteworthy upgrades with the iPhone 16e over 2021s iPhone 13. For the most part, this is a universal improvement, other than the fact that youll be losing out on an ultrawide camera on the rear. However, since the iPhone 16e features the 48MP camera sensor from iPhone 15, youll be able to take photos with 2x zoom and still receive optical quality, something that the iPhone 13 cannot do.iPhone 13iPhone 16eDisplay6.1 OLED w/ smaller notch 800 nits of brightness6.1 OLED w/ smaller notch 800 nits of brightnessCameraWide: 12MPUltrawide: 12MPWide: 48MPUltrawide: N/AProcessorApple A15: 6 core CPU 4 core GPU 16 core Neural EngineApple A18: 6 core CPU 4 core GPU 16 core Neural EngineChargingLightning up to 20WMagSafe up to 15WUSB-C up to 20WQi charging up to 7.5WApple IntelligenceNo supportFully supportedConnectivity Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 Sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.3 Sub-6GHz 5GBattery 19 hours of video playback26 hours of video playbackAdditional features Ring/mute switch Emergency SOS N/A Photographic Styles Action Button Emergency SOS via Satellite Crash Detection Photographic StylesiPhone 14 vs iPhone 16eGiven the similarities between iPhone 13 and iPhone 14, there arent too many notable differences to point out here, but heres a full breakdown:iPhone 14iPhone 16eDisplay6.1 OLED w/ smaller notch 800 nits of brightness6.1 OLED w/ smaller notch 800 nits of brightnessCameraWide: 12MPUltrawide: 12MPWide: 48MPUltrawide: N/AProcessorApple A15: 6 core CPU 5 core GPU 16 core Neural EngineApple A18: 6 core CPU 4 core GPU 16 core Neural EngineChargingLightning up to 20WMagSafe up to 15WUSB-C up to 20WQi charging up to 7.5WApple IntelligenceNo supportFully supportedConnectivity Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.3 Sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.3 Sub-6GHz 5GBattery 20 hours of video playback26 hours of video playbackAdditional features Ring/mute switch Emergency SOS via Satellite Crash Detection Photographic Style Action Button Emergency SOS via Satellite Crash Detection Photographic StylesiPhone 15 vs iPhone 16eiPhone 15 was a notable upgrade over iPhone 14, bringing USB-C and Dynamic Island to Apples entry-level iPhone. It also brought over the upgraded 48MP wide angle lens from iPhone 14 Pro, which the iPhone 16e also takes advantage of.iPhone 15iPhone 16eDisplay6.1 OLED w/ Dynamic Island 1000 nits of brightness6.1 OLED w/ smaller notch 800 nits of brightnessCameraWide: 48MPUltrawide: 12MPWide: 48MPUltrawide: N/AProcessorApple A16: 6 core CPU 5 core GPU 16 core Neural EngineApple A18: 6 core CPU 4 core GPU 16 core Neural EngineChargingUSB-C up to 20WMagSafe up to 15WUSB-C up to 20WQi charging up to 7.5WApple IntelligenceNo supportFully supportedConnectivity Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.3 Sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.3 Sub-6GHz 5GBattery 20 hours of video playback26 hours of video playbackAdditional features Ring/mute switch Emergency SOS via Satellite Crash Detection Photographic Style Action Button Emergency SOS via Satellite Crash Detection Photographic StylesWrap upEssentially, the common theme here is that iPhone 16e will be an overall upgrade from any iPhone older than the latest-generation iPhone 16 presuming you dont mind the lack of official MagSafe support. You gain USB-C, support for Apple Intelligence, as well as a suite of other upgrades, primarily at the cost of an ultra-wide lens. The main exception to this rule is the iPhone 15, where youll also be losing the Dynamic Island. Regardless of what iPhone youre coming from, youll also gain the best battery life in any 6.1-inch iPhone.Brought to you by Uniq:Check out the new rugged cases from Uniq including the glow in the dark Combat Active iPhone case featuring a textured grip for ultimate control and a reflective lanyard. And the Stride SE, a high-performance Apple Watch sports band built tough with durable FKM. My favorite iPhone accessories on Amazon:Follow Michael:X/Twitter,Bluesky,InstagramAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. 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