The "national subsidy war" of mobile phone manufacturers is not over yet, and Apple has quietly made a move.
On February 20, Apple released the "cheapest iPhone in recent years" - iPhone 16e.
The initial price of the new machine starts at 4499 yuan, if you superimpose all kinds of national subsidies and discounts, the price will drop directly to 3999 yuan, and it can be as low as 3899 yuan on platforms such as Pinxx.
Although the name is not SE, this new iPhone is regarded as the spiritual sequel to Apple's "Dick Silk Machine" iPhone SE series.
According to past experience, Apple's cheap models have always been responsible for volume, such as the 19-year-old iPhone XR and the 20-year-old iPhone SE2, which were the mainstays of Apple back then.
Apple also has high expectations for the iPhone16e this time, and on the day of its release, it also hung out a hunger marketing method of "limited to 6 units per person" on the official website.
In short, Apple just wants to rely on the iPhone 16e to make itself "great again" and recreate the grand queue of the past.
But Apple's full expectations have received cold treatment from domestic fans.
In the two days of the sale, the number of reservations on a single platform of JD.com was only 320,000, which can be said to be a big dive compared to the 1.78 million units of the iPhone16 Pro.
There are even many scalpers who say that this new iPhone16e does not dare to charge no matter how much it costs, and they are afraid of smashing their hands.
In the eyes of fans, Apple's sales have collapsed for no reason, iPhone16e has almost no merit from configuration, appearance to pricing.
It seems a bit premature to draw conclusions about the iPhone 16e at the moment, but if you take a closer look at the configuration and innovation of the iPhone 16e, you can actually find a lot of bright spots.
But with these highlights of "panning for gold in the sand" alone, can we bring Apple "great again"?
"Poor Ghost iPhone",
Let the apple horse stumble
Before the iPhone 16e hit the market, there were two things to expect from this "cheap iPhone":
First, it is absolutely cost-effective, replicating the surprise of the iPhone SE back then;
The second is to bring back Apple's classic design, the small screen + Home button is fun and nostalgic;
As a result, after the mobile phone was launched, fruit fans found that their expectations were empty.
In the words of a friend, I will comment on the iPhone16e, that is: Mr. Cook, your knife technique is too subtle.
Looking at the price alone, the iPhone16e that starts at 4499 yuan is nearly 700 yuan cheaper than the predecessor iPhone16.
But in order to make up the price difference of 700 yuan, iPhone16e can be said to be cut at the point.
In terms of videography, the 16E is equipped with only a 48-megapixel camera, and the spatial photography, action photography, and wide-angle lenses are all cut.
Compared with Android phones of the same grade, not only are they generally equipped with 50 million+ more camera configurations, but also wide-angle, optical image stabilization and other functions are also very common, and iPhones lose one game first.
In terms of the appearance of the whole machine, iPhone16e has been asked back for a long time, and the "notch screen" that has not been seen since 14 years ago, and the "emotional combination" of the small screen + Home button that many people are looking forward to is gone.
On the surface, it is to open a differentiation with the full-blooded version of the 16, but senior fruit fans can see at a glance: Cook is consuming the unused iPhone14 parts in the warehouse.
And the iPhone16e is equipped with a 60Hz screen, which even makes many fruit fans "laugh".
To put it simply, the 60Hz screen not only reduces the overall brightness a lot, but also makes the iPhone "beaten by Android at the same price in terms of fluency" for the first time.
Of course, the most "subtle" knife technique has to be reflected on the chip.
The iPhone16e claims to use the same A18 flagship chip as the iPhone16, but it castrates a GPU core, which is much inferior to the full-blooded version in terms of performance.
Netizens described Apple's operation as "claiming to be the same type of engine, but as a result, two cylinders were cut", V8 became V6, and players who expect to play games with iPhone 16e are probably going to be disappointed.
In fact, the iPhone 16e is not useless, it has a battery life of up to 26 hours, which is 4 hours higher than the standard iPhone 16.
But there is only one "long battery life" that is commendable, and the iPhone16e really can't escape the "mediocre" label.
Since its release, Apple has been focusing on the iPhone16e "cost-effective" label, but a closer look at the configuration found that behind the "full sincerity", Apple has prepared a knife.
In fact, the problem with the 16e is very simple: even as an "entry-level model", it is still a little expensive.
You must know that Apple's previous generation of entry-level models, the iPhone SE3, which has a mixed reputation, has a release price of 1,000 yuan cheaper than the 16e, which is almost half the price of the flagship iPhone 14Pro that year.
And today's domestic mainstream machine circle, it is even more efforts to make the mid-range model into a "cheap big bowl" effect, the province of the province, there must be something.
For example, the Redmi Turbo4, which is mainly in the thousand-yuan market, is stuffed into the price range of about 2000 yuan50 million pixel main camera + 6500mAh large-capacity battery, which is full of cost performance.
On the other hand, the iPhone16e's approach of "5% off configuration and firm price" is indeed contrary to the mainstream machine circle.
As for how the iPhone 16e should develop next, many fruit fans gave a pertinent schadenfreude suggestion: price reduction.
After all, after the iPhone XR was launched, it received a lot of criticism because of the higher pricing, but fortunately, Apple was very "persuasive" and immediately lowered the price, which made the iPhone XR sales revival.
In the words of netizens, if this machine can be reduced by another 500 yuan, it will be a "very cost-effective" mobile phone, if it is simply reduced by 1000, it is not a dream to be named a "generation of god machine".
Beneath the mediocre exterior,
Apple wants to "darken the warehouse"
In the eyes of the domestic machine circle, the iPhone16e almost has a "mediocre" ending.
Many people are wondering why Apple wants to launch such a mediocre work in the domestic mobile phone market.
But Apple can be ridiculed, and it must not be taken lightly, and under the seemingly "mediocre" skin of the iPhone16e, there are many of Apple's schemes.
The first point is simple: avoid the Red Sea and rely on the "basic plate" to survive.
The Chinese market has always been one of Apple's main battlegrounds, but this iPhone 16e is not aimed at the Chinese market.
The real "promised land" of the iPhone 16e has to be in the American market and the Japanese market.
The U.S. mobile phone market is not as volatile as in China, and Apple's direct opponents are not only Samsung, but also Google's Pixel and Motorola brands.
Compared with them, the iPhone can be regarded as a model of "cost performance".
The replacement cycle of American users is usually about 3 years, and as a low-end iPhone that carries the sales handle, the launch of the 16e this time is just in time for the elimination cycle of the iPhone SE3.
Moreover, the sales of the iPhone 16e in the United States are highly bound to the carrier package, and on Apple's official website in the United States, you can see a super cost-effective purchase plan as low as $5.99 (42 yuan) per month x 36 months.
For American consumers who have not experienced the wave of "fever", this is undoubtedly a good opportunity to replace their phones, and consolidating the American market also provides a solid foundation for Apple to continue to "go overseas".
Apple's second plan is to get rid of the "lag" of the supply chain.
In 2017, Apple went to court with its own baseband chip supplier Qualcomm.
The reason is very simple, Apple believes that Qualcomm is sitting on the ground and is suspected of monopoly; Qualcomm, on the other hand, dislikes Apple's budget too little and doesn't give money.
The lawsuit ended in Apple's defeat, which led to Apple's poor baseband chip quality in the following generations of mobile phones.
Many users complain about Apple's heating, low battery life, and poor signal, which are actually inseparable from the collapse of Apple's baseband chip.
Apple, which has learned from the pain, has spent a huge amount of money to incorporate Intel's baseband chip team of more than 2,000 people to engage in self-developed baseband chips.
After burning billions of dollars in 8 years, Apple's self-developed baseband chip: C1 is long overdue for the iPhone16e.
According to Apple's words, Apple phones equipped with C1 chips will not only be better in terms of energy consumption, but also have more stable performance in receiving 5G signals.
If the performance of the C1 chip can meet expectations this time, Apple, which will make up for its shortcomings in the future, will make domestic mobile phone manufacturers nervous again.
Apple's third conspiracy: entering the AI, it is not as good as arriving early.
AI has become a "battleground" for major mobile phone manufacturers, and in the past few years, Apple has made few moves in this regard.
And the iPhone 16e released this time has a new name: the cheapest Apple AI mobile phone.
If domestic users want to experience the legendary "Apple Intelligence", then the 16e will be the most cost-effective choice, from intelligent Siri to AI-assisted camera, email processing and text generation, 16e has everything available.
The timing of Apple's launch of the "cheapest AI phone" is very coincidental.
Domestic manufacturers have been stumbling on AI mobile phones for a long time, but from the user's point of view, AI mobile phones are really nothing special, nothing more than being able to chat and retouch pictures.
But at the beginning of this year, DeepSeek was born, and countless ordinary people also felt the "AI shock", which also made consumers more aware of what AI mobile phones should look like.
Apple entered the game at this time, relying on its own brand potential, this wave of "All in AI" can undoubtedly pry many consumers who are still wait-and-see about AI mobile phones.
It can be said that this wave of apples can be regarded as "DeepSeek planting trees, apples enjoying the shade".
It is worth mentioning that due to various reasons, Apple's domestic version did not choose to use ChatGPT or the popular DeepSeek to drive AI, but instead cooperated with Alibaba to create a new Apple-specific AI.
As for the performance, it may have to wait for the domestic version to be popularized before the coffin can be decided.
But in general, Apple is still far from the point of "the tiger falls in Pingyang".
What is Apple, which has taken the initiative to go down, afraid of?
Just when Apple is exploring new ways and making up for shortcomings, domestic mobile phone manufacturers are making frequent moves.
Just a few days ago, Lei Jun announced on Weibo that he would release the "Internet celebrity sports car" Xiaomi SU7 Ultra and the "high-end imaging technology flagship mobile phone" Xiaomi 15Ultra at the press conference on February 27.
This conference will be Xiaomi's "most high-end" press conference, and it will be a milestone event for Xiaomi to hit the high-end.
无独有偶,OPPO Find X8 Ultra、vivo X200 Ultra以及华为Pura 80 Ultra等等高端旗舰手机都预计将在今年面世。
Not to mention that last year, Huawei also launched a phenomenal topic mobile phone "three folds" Mate XT to show off its technical strength, allowing the world to see the strength of Chinese mobile phones to break through the high-end and rush to luxury.
This year, there is no doubt that it will be a "big year of technology" for mobile phone manufacturers to show their muscles.
Seeing that some domestic high-end mobile phones play photography, some play self-developed systems, and even bring out the triple fold, Apple has been lackluster in recent years.
Whether at home or abroad, wherever there is an apple, you can find consumers' complaints and ridicule about "squeezing toothpaste".
The launch of the iPhone 16e this time can be regarded as Apple's most "radical and bold" action in recent years.
Apple's wishful thinking is also very simple: in the case of the general weakness of flagship models, it will counter the Chinese brand through cost-effective means and make a "dimensionality reduction blow" in the mid-range machine market.
After all, the same routine has been successful several times on the iPhone SE in the past.
But Apple, which is bent on playing cost-effective, has a bad time on the iPhone16e, and the reason for this is Apple's misunderstanding of "cost-effective".
Apple's definition of cost performance has always been a "top-down" perspective.
That is, first define the category with the concept of holding high, and then create an illusion of "cost performance" by cutting off part of the configuration.
Apple may think that as long as it is equipped with the IOS system and Apple's logo, no matter how shrunken the configuration is, it can rely on the "Apple halo" to enhance its value.
But Apple has clearly miscalculated China's mid-market consumers.
According to a survey, 40% of mobile phone users are now more inclined to try mobile phones across brands, and consumers' attention to mobile phone configuration and performance has long surpassed that of brands.
On the other hand, domestic brands have always defined cost performance from the perspective of "bottom to top".
Domestic mobile phones start from imitation, and every step taken is on the dismantling of every detail of foreign brands, that is to say: deconstruct mobile phones with cost-effective means, and then reshape the high-end through the accumulated "data party" ideas.
For example, Xiaomi chose to shoot hard in the high-end, and cooperated with Leica to directly upgrade the mobile phone to the level of SLR.
Huawei, on the other hand, chose another path after being sanctioned, building an ecological moat for itself from scratch by developing its own chips and systems, and competing with Apple.
Therefore, the difference between China and the United States in the field of mobile phones does not lie in the hard work of the system or industry, but the difference in the idea of "high-end cost performance vs high-end brand".
Apple's "reverse stealing" wanted to deceive consumers with the illusion of brand benefits.
But when the "high-end veil" is gradually eaten away by the "parameter party", Apple wants to return to the road of cost performance, in fact, it will face greater challenges and resistance.
For the former overlords, the "magic skills" that have been penetrated have long lost their deterrent power.
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