If you've paid even an iota of attention to the tech space over the past week, you already know the questions this review aims to answer: Is that new Apple-made C1 modem any good?
How much do I miss the many omissions made to get this thing down to a $599 price point?
And who’s the iPhone 16e FOR, really?
To answer those questions, I left my expensive camera at home and tried my very best to use the 16e as its target buyer would – once I figured out a vague notion of who that buyer might be.
And while I don't think I solved the puzzle of that last question (and fourteen years of tech 'Tubing have made it impossible for me to go "full everyman"), I came away with a version of a review that can at least show you what it's like to use the cheapest iPhone of 2025 – so far.