There's not a big rush to buy the iPhone 16e yet

AppleInsider · February 21, 2025 2:59PM

Now some hours after preorders for the iPhone 16e opened, every configuration remains in stock to deliver on February 28.

Close-up of a smartphone's rear camera and flash on a sleek, white, metallic surface.

Maybe Apple has made sufficient iPhone 16e models, since it isn't selling out as normal

Back in September 2024, the iPhone 16 Pro Max was selling so well that within 18 minutes certain configurations were sold out. Apple will always make more, but the delivery date had immediately slipped back a week.

That's common with Apple launches, so common that it's practically the norm for the MacBook Pro as well as the iPhone. It even happened with the costly Apple Vision Pro.

It hasn't happened with the iPhone 16e.

There are six possible configurations of the iPhone 16e, with two colors and three different storage options. After 60 and then 90 minutes since preorders opened, every configuration remains available for delivery on February 28, 2025.

What Apple has never and surely now will never reveal is how many of a device it has made. It is fully possible that the iPhone 16e is a massive success and Apple was just brilliant at estimating how many to stock.

That would produce the result we're seeing, the ability to get any model without delay. And especially under Tim Cook, Apple has long been totally on top of its whole supply and production chain.

Yet despite the kind of iron grip on its manufacturing that other firms would hope for, Apple still routinely hits this issue of delivery dates having to slip back weeks or even months.

It could just be good marketing. Apple itself has never exactly crowed about selling out of its iPhones, but a reason for the usual preorder rush is because buyers know to get in early.

Except this time.

So maybe Apple judged its manufacturing better than ever. And maybe it decided against using scarcity as a marketing tool.

Or maybe the iPhone 16e is not selling as well as expected. Just as appears to have happened with the 2024 OLED iPad Pro.

Read on AppleInsider

mike1 · February 21, 2025 4:09PM

Oh, please!

Why would anyone expect this model to sell out or be in short supply on opening day?!

It was released outside of the usual September hype and its media coverage.

It is not targeted to power users or enthusiasts who will want to upgrade and order on day 1.

I would bet the vast majority of customers for this model don't yet know about it or will never know about it until they need/want to buy a new phone for whatever reason. The typical SE customer is not eagerly awaiting the release date of a new phone.

charlesn · February 21, 2025 4:57PM

mike1 said:

Oh, please!
Why would anyone expect this model to sell out or be in short supply on opening day?!

It was released outside of the usual September hype and its media coverage.
It is not targeted to power users or enthusiasts who will want to upgrade and order on day 1.
I would bet the vast majority of customers for this model don't yet know about it or will never know about it until they need/want to buy a new phone for whatever reason. The typical SE customer is not eagerly awaiting the release date of a new phone.

100%. I'm embarrassed for Gallagher that he would even publish this kind of drivel for which he must know the obvious answers. Yeah, this was a big deal in the Apple-obsessed corner of the techosphere echo chamber. But out there in the real world? Not so much. Awareness that the 16e even exists is minimal right now, yet Gallagher wonders aloud why no shipping delays yet as if something must be amiss. Of course, Apple marketing will make sure the 16e becomes a very well-known new model, but that marketing push hasn't really started yet. This kind of stupidity drives me nuts.

michail · February 21, 2025 5:47PM

The Pro Max types set their alarm clock @4:00 a.m. on Day One; the SE types realize they need a new phone the day after their iPhone dies. Plain and simple.

michelb76 · February 21, 2025 5:51PM

If anything this model will make people look at Android phones at the same price point. Not great.

yyzguy · February 21, 2025 6:46PM

mike1 said:

Oh, please!
Why would anyone expect this model to sell out or be in short supply on opening day?!

It was released outside of the usual September hype and its media coverage.
It is not targeted to power users or enthusiasts who will want to upgrade and order on day 1.
I would bet the vast majority of customers for this model don't yet know about it or will never know about it until they need/want to buy a new phone for whatever reason. The typical SE customer is not eagerly awaiting the release date of a new phone.

I was “eagerly waiting” for a new SE to replace a pair of 2nd generation SEs (2020). I was ready to make a day one purchase. Sadly, the 16e isn’t it. So I bought a pair of refurbished iPhone 13 minis on Amazon instead for less than the rumored price of a 4th generation SE. Too bad for Apple. Good for me. I hope their internal data shows millions of others doing the same. FYI, it was quite interesting to see the availability of refurbished iPhone 13 mini fluctuate throughout yesterday at Amazon. There would be just 2 in stock for a few minutes then suddenly more available. I’m guessing refurbished late model iPhones are going to be in demand for awhile. Not everyone wants Apple Intelligence or a hobbled $599 phone. Mine were $279/each with 256GB storage. So there!

yyzguy · February 21, 2025 6:49PM

michelb76 said:

If anything this model will make people look at Android phones at the same price point. Not great.

Nah. Apple users are going to stay loyal to the Apple ecosystem. We’re just going to buy refurbished late model iPhones. See my other comment somewhere here,

indiekiduk · February 21, 2025 6:50PM

Meanwhile iPhone 16 refurbs out of stock

mike wuerthele · February 21, 2025 6:54PM

charlesn said:

mike1 said:

Oh, please!
Why would anyone expect this model to sell out or be in short supply on opening day?!

It was released outside of the usual September hype and its media coverage.
It is not targeted to power users or enthusiasts who will want to upgrade and order on day 1.
I would bet the vast majority of customers for this model don't yet know about it or will never know about it until they need/want to buy a new phone for whatever reason. The typical SE customer is not eagerly awaiting the release date of a new phone.

100%. I'm embarrassed for Gallagher that he would even publish this kind of drivel for which he must know the obvious answers. Yeah, this was a big deal in the Apple-obsessed corner of the techosphere echo chamber. But out there in the real world? Not so much. Awareness that the 16e even exists is minimal right now, yet Gallagher wonders aloud why no shipping delays yet as if something must be amiss. Of course, Apple marketing will make sure the 16e becomes a very well-known new model, but that marketing push hasn't really started yet. This kind of stupidity drives me nuts.

Every SE was constrained at launch, minutes after they went on sale.

The 16e is not. That in itself is noteworthy, whether or not it's obvious to you.

If you wish to continue your unwarranted diatribe against William, feel free to do so in DM.

edited February 21

dewme · February 21, 2025 7:01PM

Consumers will determine whether the iPhone 16e is a winner or loser for Apple investors. For every person out there complaining that Apple left too much out of the iPhone 16e there's another person complaining that Apple put too much into the Pro Max phones that resulted in them reaching unattainable price levels while adding needless complexity, size, and weight. Both sides are fully rational in their thinking and justified in their comments.

From a consumer perspective, the more choices available the greater possibility they will find their own Goldilocks iPhone model or one that's close enough to justify purchasing one. Their search may come up empty and they'll find an alternative or wait until another option becomes available. The investors have a little more skin in the game and will find out within a few quarters whether Apple made the right decision for their own self interests.

charlesn · February 21, 2025 7:11PM

indiekiduk said:

Meanwhile iPhone 16 refurbs out of stock

How many refurbs could there be for a phone that first delivered new only five months ago?

rogue01 · February 21, 2025 7:44PM

It is not shocking that no one wants this phone. SE buyers are not going to spend $599, up from $429. Sad that the author made up a story claiming Apple produced so many units expecting some type of imagined demand that they would have so many to offer that they don't sell out like the Pro models do. Yes, it is noteworthy that the 16e has not sold out like other models do, but it is not for the reasons in this article. It is far more likely that this phone will be an unpopular model, just like the 'Plus' models and the 5c. Apple was expected to release an SE replacement, a low-cost phone offering current performance. Instead, they got a re-branded 16 model for $170 more than the SE. That is what consumers are upset about, and the lack of sales on the pre-order prove that.

Apple should stop pushing Apple Intelligence as a reason to buy a device since the reality of Apple Intelligence is pretty sad. Creepy emojis and image playground is not useful for anyone, and even Apple disabled the summary feature because of the embarrassing results that it was producing. Apple Intelligence has turned out to be a big dud. I turned it off.

edited February 21

daalseth · February 21, 2025 8:22PM

yyzguy said:

michelb76 said:

If anything this model will make people look at Android phones at the same price point. Not great.

Nah. Apple users are going to stay loyal to the Apple ecosystem. We’re just going to buy refurbished late model iPhones. See my other comment somewhere here,

I think a lot of SE buyers are just looking for ‘a phone’ to make calls, do email, and text, maybe. If Apple doesn’t have an inexpensive model, they’ll step across the aisle. I think a lot of them will.

suntanironman · February 22, 2025 4:05AM

indiekiduk said:

Meanwhile iPhone 16 refurbs out of stock

Do you mean on Apple.com? Refurbished iPhone 16 models sold directly from the Apple.com Apple Store? If so:

Apple hasn’t yet released any iPhone 16 as refurbished on the US Apple Store website. I don’t know about the iPhone 16 refurbished stock of Apple Stores in other countries (except the Japanese Apple Store), but it hasn’t yet happened in America. So it’s not out of stock. It’s just never been in stock (yet).

Apple also hasn’t yet made available any refurbished iPhone 15 models on the US Apple Store website. Apple made available refurbished iPhone 15/Plus/Pro/Max models in a few European countries for the first time a few weeks ago (January 2025). But the refurbished iPhone 15 models haven’t yet been made available on the US Apple.com Apple Store either.

edited February 22

charlesn · February 22, 2025 4:56AM

Mike Wuerthele said:

charlesn said:

mike1 said:

Oh, please!
Why would anyone expect this model to sell out or be in short supply on opening day?!

It was released outside of the usual September hype and its media coverage.
It is not targeted to power users or enthusiasts who will want to upgrade and order on day 1.
I would bet the vast majority of customers for this model don't yet know about it or will never know about it until they need/want to buy a new phone for whatever reason. The typical SE customer is not eagerly awaiting the release date of a new phone.

100%. I'm embarrassed for Gallagher that he would even publish this kind of drivel for which he must know the obvious answers. Yeah, this was a big deal in the Apple-obsessed corner of the techosphere echo chamber. But out there in the real world? Not so much. Awareness that the 16e even exists is minimal right now, yet Gallagher wonders aloud why no shipping delays yet as if something must be amiss. Of course, Apple marketing will make sure the 16e becomes a very well-known new model, but that marketing push hasn't really started yet. This kind of stupidity drives me nuts.

Every SE was constrained at launch, minutes after they went on sale.

The 16e is not. That in itself is noteworthy, whether or not it's obvious to you.

If you wish to continue your unwarranted diatribe against William, feel free to do so in DM.

With all due respect, Mike, it actually is not noteworthy. We just saw this kind of "connecting of dots that don't actually connect" with the launch of the iPhone 16, when the rumor mill started buzzing that it wasn't selling well because wait times on Apple's website were either non-existent or shorter than they had been for past iPhone launches. This rumor was nonsense, as we now know, and those more interested in facts than rumor-mongering pointed out that no conclusion could be reached about how it was selling without knowing how Apple's stock-on-hand compared with past launches. Same applies for the 16e. And the AI headline that "there's no big rush to to buy the 16e yet" is based on the same faulty assumption that no wait times on Apple's website for delivery means no big rush, but you can't know what it means without knowing the stock Apple has for the launch. This is also not an SE "replacement" in any real sense--Apple not only dropped the SE from the lineup, but abandoned the whole idea of an aggressively low-priced entry iPhone. The 16e is a very new phone for Apple in terms of its mix of features and price point--a $599 buying decision is very different from one at $429--and I think it will take some time and some marketing for buyers to assess whether the 16e, the 15 or the 16 is the right iPhone for them.

michelb76 · February 22, 2025 8:55AM

yyzguy said:

michelb76 said:

If anything this model will make people look at Android phones at the same price point. Not great.

Nah. Apple users are going to stay loyal to the Apple ecosystem. We’re just going to buy refurbished late model iPhones. See my other comment somewhere here,

I personally won't change yet. But it's never been easier to go from iOS to Android than it is now.

charlesn · February 22, 2025 5:35PM

michelb76 said:
I personally won't change yet. But it's never been easier to go from iOS to Android than it is now.

This is certainly true if you're just talking about a phone to phone switch, but the real pull of the Apple ecosystem is felt when you have multiple Apple devices. Then it's a question of whether you're willing to have your phone lose its seamless interaction with the rest of your devices. For me, the lure of any particular Android feature that iOS/iPhone is lacking isn't worth that loss of seamless interaction between my devices. I also despise Google (along with Meta) for building businesses based on abuse of consumer privacy and the sale of consumer data. Google's relentless pursuit of profit above all else even ruined its namesake search engine, which is now about serving up advertisers as "answers" to queries, while the info you actually want is buried pages down in the search results.

nubus · February 22, 2025 5:58PM

Mike Wuerthele said:
Every SE was constrained at launch, minutes after they went on sale.
The 16e is not. That in itself is noteworthy.

This is indeed noteworthy and worth discussing.

It is a steep price for a SE 4 but this is no SE. Apple doubled both memory and storage, went 48 MP, introduced FaceID, and delivered OLED while keeping it away from the cheap plastics of Android. It could never be a $449 phone. This phone is durable and designed to stay relevant. It is sold at 25% less than iPhone 16 just as XR was 25% less than XS. We knew about specs and import tariffs. Why didn't we see that that pricing would be a tier above SE? If we didn't get it then no wonder consumers are confused.

Not that the launch was good. Apple could have kept SE but made a connection between 16e and SE. Reviewers including Amber Neely then decided to compare it to iPhone 16 instead of to SE. Seems like a failed press briefing. Perhaps making it $499 without OLED would have been better.

jpellino · February 22, 2025 10:54PM

This thing is simultaneously too much and too little.

42% price increase is too much for the entry level phone.

Including a processor for AI means they’ll start charging for a certain level or usage of their AI.
Already Invites requires the paid tier of iCloud.

Add magsafe, ditch the trick camera, lower the storage tiers.

Keep the price. You’re making plenty of money on $1k+ phones.

nubus · February 23, 2025 6:47AM

jpellino said:

This thing is simultaneously too much and too little.
42% price increase is too much for the entry level phone.

2025 is the year where US consumers pay taxes 3x: tariffs + sales taxes on tariffs + taxes. Moving manufacturing might reduce tariffs but the reason for producing in China was cost. Your next phone will be a lot more expensive. Unless features are removed or Apple decides to reduce margins by 1/3. With 16e Apple added a lot of features and didn't reduce margins enough. 16e is a nice phone launched at the wrong time.

m68000 · February 23, 2025 2:19PM

Who expected this phone would sell out on launch day? The author? The general public who doesn’t stay on top of tech news has barely heard about. My guess is there will be similar marketing done for the mini iPhones, basically very little if any.

There's not a big rush to buy the iPhone 16e yet

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