Apple presents iPhone 17e and iPad Air with M4
The cheapest iPhone has the latest chips and better wireless charging. Apart from that, surprisingly little has changed. Fortunately, the price also remains the same, although Apple has increased the memory.
Apple has unveiled the iPhone 17e in a press release. It retains the design of the predecessor model. The improvements are limited to the chips, the camera and a more robust display. In addition, the entry-level iPhone no longer has to do without MagSafe and has more memory in the basic version. As with the iPhone 16e a year ago, the price starts at 599 francs or 699 euros.
Same design, same display
Surprisingly, the iPhone 17e still has a cut-out at the top of the display (the «notch»). In the run-up it was
expected that Apple would switch to a newer design with Dynamic Island. The Camera Control is another feature you will have to do without on the cheapest iPhone. The colour options are black, white and «Soft Pink».
Source: Apple
Nothing has changed on the 6.1-inch OLED display either. It still only has 60 hertz. At least it is now protected by the same Ceramic Shield 2 that is used in the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro. It is said to be three times as scratch-resistant as the old protective glass.
MagSafe and new chips
At 256 gigabytes, the iPhone 17e has twice as much memory as its predecessor - at the same price. This is remarkable in the midst of the current memory crisis. The reasons for Apple's resistance are likely to be long-term contracts with suppliers on the one hand, and cross-subsidisation through expensive upgrades on the other: from 256 to 512 GB, a surcharge of a whopping 200 francs is due.
The A19 chip is the same as in the regular iPhone 17. The new C1X modem is already at work in the iPhone Air. It is very efficient and should ensure a longer battery life. The wireless charging speed increases from 7.5 to 15 watts. This is because the iPhone 17e now supports MagSafe and the Qi2 standard.
Source: Apple
On the back, there is still a single camera with a focal length of 26 mm and an aperture of ƒ/1.6. Its sensor has a resolution of 48 megapixels, which are compressed to 24 megapixels as standard (pixel binning). It has a digital 2x zoom, which Apple describes as «Zoom in optical quality» because the image processing («Fusion Engine») is supposed to improve the quality beyond a simple crop. In practice, the truth lies somewhere in between.
The engine now also supports the automatic portrait mode, which recognises people and animals and lets you add a blur afterwards. Unfortunately, Apple is not installing the improved selfie camera from the iPhone 17 with the square 18-megapixel sensor on the front. Instead, the old one with 12 megapixels is still used.
The iPhone 17e costs 599 francs or 699 euros with 256 GB of storage and 799 francs or 949 euros with 512 GB of storage. You can pre-order it from 4 March. Delivery begins on 11 March.
New iPad Air with M4
At the same time as the iPhone 17e, Apple has announced an update to the iPad Air. The thin tablet now comes with the M4 chip and 12 GB of RAM (instead of the previous 8 GB). The new N1 wireless chip also supports Wi-Fi 7, while the versions with mobile communications receive the same C1X modem as the iPhone 17e.
According to Apple, the bottom line is that this ensures 30 per cent better multi-core performance compared to the previous model. The N1 chip also ensures better and more stable wireless connections, including for features such as AirDrop or the personal hotspot. All other specifications remain the same. The iPad Air still does not have an OLED display, but an LCD with a peak brightness of 500 nits.
Source: Apple
The iPad Air with M4 is available to pre-order from 4 March and will be delivered from 11 March. The price starts at 579 francs or 649 euros with an 11-inch display and 128 GB memory. The version with a 13-inch display costs at least 749 francs or 849 euros.
My fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.
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