New low cost iPhone 16e

best buy isn't budging on the se 3rd gen price, I may find it cheaper somewhere else but would like to use my $200 BB gift card.

I am just not feeling the new iPhone market and the XR is tired.
 
factorytuned2012 said:
best buy isn't budging on the se 3rd gen price, I may find it cheaper somewhere else but would like to use my $200 BB gift card.

I am just not feeling the new iPhone market and the XR is tired.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I hear you. Not that I disagree but Apple is holding their prices. In fairness so does the other major Google and Samsung for the premiums. Though google 8a and 9a seem like a solid choice in that range.

Not that it matters. But I see you mentioned the XR. I had one of those a few years back, loved it.
If it's in good working condition Apple will sell you their newest 16e for $499 after trade in.

Order on line and free shipping to you and 14 day return window.
For fun I ran the phone in the Apple Store. As far as I am concerned for those who want to stay Apple this is a pretty solid phone that I considered as well.

Screenshot 2025-03-05 at 6.58.06 PM.webp


Source - https://www.apple.com/iphone-16e/
 
alarmguy said:
Yeah, I hear you. Not that I disagree but Apple is holding their prices. In fairness so does the other major Google and Samsung for the premiums. Though google 8a and 9a seem like a solid choice in that range.

Not that it matters. But I see you mentioned the XR. I had one of those a few years back, loved it.
If it's in good working condition Apple will sell you their newest 16e for $499 after trade in.

Order on line and free shipping to you and 14 day return window.
For fun I ran the phone in the Apple Store. As far as I am concerned for those who want to stay Apple this is a pretty solid phone that I considered as well.

View attachment 266585

Source - https://www.apple.com/iphone-16e/
Click to expand...
yeah I had thought about that.. would still leave me in the hole with a $200 BB Gift card.. another option is getting $65 trade-in for the XR at BB which would give me a total of $265 to work with.
 
factorytuned2012 said:
no magsafe no dynamic island one less processor core. Yes a nice update-upgrade from the se but disappointing at the price bump to 599. I am interested to see how apples new in house modem chipset will turn out.
Click to expand...
The last se was available at $199 not long after its introduction then $99 for a while in some packages, bit of inflation
 
@factorytuned2012 @Elkins45

I think it's going to be challenging finding the 3rd generation SE in stock.
The big jump in price to the 16e seems to cleaned out stock of the 3rd gen. I am certain there are some available but I doubt you will se good discounts since the new 16e is so much more expensive/
Best Buy does have "Open Box" near me I assume other areas too. I hate the open box thing but at least at Best Buy you can see the device. Instead of ordering it online and returning it.

I only one time in my life tried an open box. From a Walmart SELLER only recently 2 months if that long ago. I took the chance since the returns were handled by Walmart and all I would have to do is bring it to Walmart for a return. Walmart would send it to the seller and it would take up to 10 days for a refund. Sure I was a little nervous but it's Walmart.

Phone to the less critical eye would have been a keeper. It was an iPhone 14 pro and cost a bit more than $500. However I could tell by TINY (and I mean tiny) imperfections around the bezel (metal frame) that you couldnt see it but you could feel it. That told me the glass screen was replaced as if it was OEM no way would I feel anything but perfection from Apple. Some may not be bothered by a screen that was replaced, you just have to remember is may not be an Apple screen/display that they replaced it with. It could be an inferior non OEM.

Ok, so I fire up the phone, seems all new like an open box would, guess what? Battery Life was 87 or 82% (I forget) On an "open box" battery life should have been 100% My 3 year old heavly used iPhone 13 is still 89% !!
Clearly this was a used phone being sold as "open box"

I Returned it to Walmart Store, they shipped it to seller and as the return policy said, I did get my refund within 10 days once the seller "received" the phone.

Anyway, I'll never do that again and just something for anyone thinking about buying an open box. My advice would be to examine it closely, which you can do at Best Buy I think. run your fingers over the metal bezel to feel for any slight roughness and fire up the phone to see the Battery Life.
Settings>Battery>Battery Health & Charging>Maximum Capacity

Maximum Capactiy Tells you the condition of the battery not how much the battery is charged. Maximum Capacity tells you how much the batter will change too. Ex. new phone is 100% as the battery wears down over the years, such as mine now. No mater who much it is charged it will only charge to 89%
This gives you a clear idea how much that phone was used. My wife and I both bought our iPhone 13's March 2022 and today 3 years later March 2025 the Maximum Capacity on both phones is 89%

We just had this discussion last night since my new phone will be arriving today. I use my phone more than my wife, as I am retired and my wife doesnt have as much time since she works from home on her company supplied equipment.
She uses a Mag Charger that I bought her two years ago. I direct plug mine in. Dont know if that makes a difference but found it interesting that my more heavily used phone battery in no worse than hers. The Mag chargers does her the battery more and I am convinced that makes a small difference. But have no idea if I am right.

Here is an example, this is Myrtle Beach and they do not ship but you can try your local BestBuy online and see if anything there for you.
Just be careful my impression now is this "open box thing" can be hit or miss.
You can get lucky, this would be an example. If I dont like my new iPhone 15plus I have 14 days to return it to Apple. I assume Apple OR its resellers will see it as Open Box. That would be a good deal. Personally the prices below are crazy to me only $20 off an excellent open box.

Screenshot 2025-03-06 at 10.56.48 AM.webp

 
Last edited:
alarmguy said:
@factorytuned2012 @Elkins45

I think it's going to be challenging finding the 3rd generation SE in stock.
The big jump in price to the 16e seems to cleaned out stock of the 3rd gen. I am certain there are some available but I doubt you will se good discounts since the new 16e is so much more expensive/
Best Buy does have "Open Box" near me I assume other areas too. I hate the open box thing but at least at Best Buy you can see the device. Instead of ordering it online and returning it.

I only one time in my life tried an open box. From a Walmart SELLER only recently 2 months if that long ago. I took the chance since the returns were handled by Walmart and all I would have to do is bring it to Walmart for a return. Walmart would send it to the seller and it would take up to 10 days for a refund. Sure I was a little nervous but it's Walmart.

Phone to the less critical eye would have been a keeper. It was an iPhone 14 pro and cost a bit more than $500. However I could tell by TINY (and I mean tiny) imperfections around the bezel (metal frame) that you couldnt see it but you could feel it. That told me the glass screen was replaced as if it was OEM no way would I feel anything but perfection from Apple. Some may not be bothered by a screen that was replaced, you just have to remember is may not be an Apple screen/display that they replaced it with. It could be an inferior non OEM.

Ok, so I fire up the phone, seems all new like an open box would, guess what? Battery Life was 87 or 82% (I forget) On an "open box" battery life should have been 100% My 3 year old heavly used iPhone 13 is still 89% !!
Clearly this was a used phone being sold as "open box"

I Returned it to Walmart Store, they shipped it to seller and as the return policy said, I did get my refund within 10 days once the seller "received" the phone.

Anyway, I'll never do that again and just something for anyone thinking about buying an open box. My advice would be to examine it closely, which you can do at Best Buy I think. run your fingers over the metal bezel to feel for any slight roughness and fire up the phone to see the Battery Life.
Settings>Battery>Battery Health & Charging>Maximum Capacity

Maximum Capactiy Tells you the condition of the battery not how much the battery is charged. Maximum Capacity tells you how much the batter will change too. Ex. new phone is 100% as the battery wears down over the years, such as mine now. No mater who much it is charged it will only charge to 89%
This gives you a clear idea how much that phone was used. My wife and I both bought our iPhone 13's March 2022 and today 3 years later March 2025 the Maximum Capacity on both phones is 89%

We just had this discussion last night since my new phone will be arriving today. I use my phone more than my wife, as I am retired and my wife doesnt have as much time since she works from home on her company supplied equipment.
She uses a Mag Charger that I bought her two years ago. I direct plug mine in. Dont know if that makes a difference but found it interesting that my more heavily used phone battery in no worse than hers. The Mag chargers does her the battery more and I am convinced that makes a small difference. But have no idea if I am right.

Here is an example, this is Myrtle Beach and they do not ship but you can try your local BestBuy online and see if anything there for you.
Just be careful my impression now is this "open box thing" can be hit or miss.
You can get lucky, this would be an example. If I dont like my new iPhone 15plus I have 14 days to return it to Apple. I assume Apple OR its resellers will see it as Open Box. That would be a good deal. Personally the prices below are crazy to me only $20 off an excellent open box.

View attachment 266638
Click to expand...
I’m embarrassed by this post. There are so many typos, but the time to edit is gone.
🫤
 
Few things.

Battery health has some sort of smoothing in it. it routinely reported higher than Coconut Battery on my old 11 and it would remain the same when coconut battery did not. I found that I could improve the capacity by completely discharging it and then fully charging it from the computer until coconut battery reported it was charging at zero watts, which is a good while after the phone itself reports 100%.

As I mentioned I just bought three 16 Pro, a 16 Pro Max and a 16 Plus. IF there was a 16ePlus that might have been an option in place of the 16Plus but i still feel you give up a lot for not much savings. Like how are you going to take good macro photos of those oil filters for us? I also have a 15 for a work phone.

Anyway I digress.

Physically both the 15 and the 16 pros are smaller than the 11 was, it will basically rattle around in a 11 case. Also found that the newer Otter defenders are slimmer than the old ones so the 16 pro in an otter defender is barely bigger than the 11. the 16 Pro max in an otter defender XT is about the size of the old 11 in an otter defender. Had i realized this i might have gotten an Pro Max for myself.

This will be the first time that ive traded them in by mail. I have never had any issue getting full value at the apple store. Ive handed them over before and also taken them back to the store before. Advantage to doing it my mail is you can get the money credited back to your account vs gift cards. Disadvantage is that they go back to an Apple "partner" to be "inspected". We shall see - I am not sure I trust an apple partner as much as apple. They have received three of mine back and the other two are on the way so I guess we shall see. they have allows been in Otter defenders with screen protectors so they should be full value no issues.

I tried to use "quick start" one time in the past and it didn't work, but this time it was very slick easiest phone swap ever!.

Thoughts on 16 Pro. I like it a lot the zoom and macro in particular. I'm a bit indifferent on the camera control, though i don't like the cutouts in the case. I also could not get a glare shield screen protector from Otter, i miss that as it made it more visible in the sun. the 16Plus hade even less options for screen protectors. My battery is lasting several days... which is much better than the 11.
 
Received the iPhone 15Plus yesterday direct from Apple. My experience with Apple has always been top notch. Phone was shipped express and received it one day later. I was actually surprised, I didnt even know it was delivered. UPS dropped it at the front door, didnt even ring the doorbell. I knew it arrived at that second though because I got an invitation from Apple to help set up my new phone. I didnt need help though.

This is the first time I ever got a new phone and my wife decided she didnt want one yet. She still likes her iPhone 13 and maybe will wait until the end of the year. I was surprised as she is a bit of a techie herself. I think we both think we have plateau'd with features that we can use on cell phones and we REALLY use them.

The change for me is, for the first time in my decades long use of cell phones I wanted to try a larger screen size and why the purchase of the 15 plus besides being bored with the same iPhone 13 for 3 years. I was a bit concerned it might be too big but Apple gives a 14 day return policy so there is no risk. Anyway, I dont know what I was thinking maybe back from the days of phablets (?).
The larger screen was something to get excited about. Grand Slam, love it, plus being a guy it fits better in my hands then lets say my petite wife. Display as suspected it beautiful
The 15Plus is perfect for me, it's really not a giant phone at all. Screen roughly .5 inch higher and .25 wider.

Like @DuckRyder experience switching from my iPhone 13 to 15plus was an easy experience. I kind of suspected it would be but you never know, maybe more so with MVNO provider. Anyway seamlessly the data flowed my my old 13 to the new 15. Once done. I went to my USMOBILE account, replaced the phone (e-sim) under my phone number with the new IMEI and as soon as I clicked "save" (or something like that) it asked are you sure? I said yes, literally I looked my iPhone 13 seconds later and noticed the cell signal gone.
I waited about 15 minutes for the iPhone 15 with its new IMEI and the new phone wasnt working. NO big deal, I went into the new Iphone 15 plus > settings > cellular, and saw the USMOBILE e-sim sitting there, I just had to click to activate and within less than 4 minutes or so my wife called my number and the new phone was working.

Im happy with my choice and very happy with the seamless transfer. There will always be apps that might require you to sign in again and things like credit cards in Apply pay that will require you to re-enter the 3 digit code on the back of the card. Surprisingly all my apps are there. I noticed Discover Card didnt even require me to reenter the 3 digit code.
Love the matte finish of the phone and the pastel sky blue that is almost white depending on how light hits it. That was another concern of mine as I really liked the more solid colors of the new iPhone 16s at least looking at them on a computer monitor, anyway, safe to say both my wife and I are very impressed with the color. After all, it's an apple product I guess they know what works.

Im not big on phone cases, I like clear silicone types, I dont use MagSafe (my wife uses it and a different case) I prefer seeing the color of the phone I purchased unhindered. So dont make fun, but I have been using them for years. Incredible value and WELL made Walmart Brand onn at less than $5 (dont tell anyone) *LOL* their amazing>

@DuckRyder I too will be sending my old iPhone 13 back with the mailer Apple sent. I have over the years sent phones back, never an issue. Last time was when we got the iPhone 13s through T-Mobile in exchange for our old 11 and XR. THAT I was nervous about and the fear unfounded. This time with Apple involved? NOT a chance anything will go wrong. Doesnt matter who gets your phone, they are not going to lose Apples business by cheating you. No way. So this will be the one true time I will ahve no concerns. Enjoy your phones, boy you really filled out a large order for them, nice.

This is a matte sky blue
IMG_2784.webp


These are the cases I use. They also sell a MagSafe but I dont know anything about them since I dont use them.
I also noticed in my wife's new car. Her phone with a MagSafe(not from Walmart) will not charge in the built in wireless charging of the car but my phone with a plain case does.

IMG_2787.webp
IMG_2790.webp
 
Last edited:
Elkins45 said:
My current phone is a second generation SE bought in 2020. I guess I should try to pick up a third Gen if there are any available.
Click to expand...
Looks like I have a second gen SE also. Looks like updates at least through 2027? so I should be ok for at least two more years, assuming I don't break/lose the phone. Or break it when the battery needs replacing, I suppose that's always a possibility.
 
supton said:
Looks like I have a second gen SE also. Looks like updates at least through 2027? so I should be ok for at least two more years, assuming I don't break/lose the phone. Or break it when the battery needs replacing, I suppose that's always a possibility.
Click to expand...
I checked the battery replacement and an expert can do it in 20 minutes. So I plan to allocate a couple of hours to doing it when the battery health drops below 60% on mine.

I'm quite happy with the phone for what I use it for (15 minute video call a day with my mom, and for work when I'm on call for a week once a month).
 
Not impressed with trade in process.

Tracking is janky and doest agree between web and phone on apple store (same order says its delivered and in-transit depending on where you check it).
messages saying received and "verified you're all done and don't need to do anything else". Only to get an e-mail the next day saying they cut the offer in half for screen damage when there was not any.

SHADY.

Messages sayings "received" only to revert to "in transit".

I have already argued with Apple about one of them, im going to wait for all of them at this point and have one more argument.

As already mentioned these phone lived in otter boxes and had screen protectors and i have never once failed to get full value at an apple store.

This trade in Partenr is
CTDI
400 River Ridge Parkway
Jeffersonville, IN 47130, United States

My advice is not to trade in anything involving these people and if you do take MANY photos and screen shots of everything ever few hours.

I feel a letter to Tim Cook coming on. I can see like 20+ Grand worth of apple stuff from my chair and was about to buy another macbook (2500ish) So CTDI's little game is about to cost apple money and grief.
 
Mine is on the way to
On the Way
Louisville, KY,

I hope I dont have a first bad experience with this.
Sadly reading above I wish I did a video when I boxed it. My iPhone 13 is truly perfect, like perfection in a 3 year old phone, some people would not know it wasnt new.

Opps ...
just arrived


03/11/2025
3:48 P.M.		On the Way
Arrived at Facility
Louisville, KY, United States

OH NO that is a stop over *LOL*
Its going to
Return To
JEFFERSONVILLE, IN US

I completely didnt follow up on this until @DuckRyder posted his issue I wasnt concerned. I dont even know what he is looking at on the web and Apple Store. Im just using the tracking number
 
Last edited:
alarmguy said:
posted his issue I wasnt concerned. I dont even know what he is looking at on the web and Apple Store. Im just using the tracking number
Click to expand...
Go to Apple / store / order status - log in with your Apple ID. Trade status is at the top of your order. Can also do similar on the Apple Store app.

Print copies of fed ex and screen shot Apple order status is my advice. One of mine arrived sat yet they claim it only just arrived today ( I have the gps location of delivery from fed ex, they got it sat.
 
willbur said:
I am strongly leaning towards buying an android phone but have questions: Does an android phone still pack a lot of bloat ware? And do they offer longer term updates than they used too? Are they as secure against hackers as an apple?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Google Pixel phones do and are. Also, the scam calls screening is excellent.
 
Last edited:
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