iPhone 17e rumored to launch in Spring 2026, iPhone 18e in 2027

AppleInsider

A new report repeats previous rumors that Apple will launch an iPhone 17e in early 2026, but also makes the dubious claim that the company will limit production to protect flagship sales.

The current iPhone 16e

Even before the iPhone 16e shipped in February 2025, there were already rumors of an iPhone 17e following exactly a year later. Then in April 2025, it was claimed that an iPhone 17e might be in testing ahead of its 2026 launch.

Now The Elec claims that Apple will definitely launch an iPhone 17e in Spring 2026. But it also claims that the company will intentionally constrain supplies for fear of cannibalizing sales of other models.

If Apple becomes known for releasing a budget iPhone every Spring, as the report also says, then there is a logic here. Buyers who know a lower cost model is coming could elect to skip each year's main September launches.

However, Apple has previously been reported to be splitting its iPhone launches into two per year. If it does, it will launch the higher end Pro models in September, and the budget edition is unlikely to compete with those.

Then The Elec's idea of capping or limiting production is to constrain it to around 20 million devices. That's not artificially limiting buyers, it's just around the sales that Apple managed with the iPhone 16e and the iPhone SE models before it.

What the iPhone 17e brings

This new report has little information about the iPhone 17e itself. But it does specify that it will retain the same 6.1-inch OLED display as in the iPhone 16e.

That suggests that Apple will be continuing to use the same display that was originally introduced with the iPhone 14 in 2022.

The report's only other detail is that it claims screens will be made by Samsung Display, LG Display, and BOE. But it also says that it is screen manufacturer BOE who will make most the majority.

BOE has long made iPhone screens for Apple, albeit not without controversy. Separately, it's reported that BOE has expanded its production capacity specifically to win more orders from Apple.

Note that The Elec appears to have reasonably good sources within Apple's supply chain. However, it is typically less accurate when it predicts Apple's future plans.

Rumor Score: Possible

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charlesn

AppleInsider said:
Then The Elec's idea of capping or limiting production is to constrain it to around 20 million devices. That's not artificially limiting buyers, it's just around the sales that Apple managed with the iPhone 16e and the iPhone SE models before it.

The 16e has only been on sale for a little over 4 months, and since it represents an entirely new form factor/feature set/price point for Apple's cheapest iPhone, I'm not sure how they're projecting annual sales this early in the first cycle. Further: if the 16e is only doing the same numbers as SE, then it would be a sales flop, given that the whole point of replacing the SE was to boost sales of the low end phone. And further still: if Apple is "constraining" the supply of the 16e, you sure wouldn't know it from the retail side, where it's possible to pick-up the 16e of your choice on any given day. Finally: it's ludicrous to suggest that the spring launch of the "e" model is going to cannibalize to any significant degree the sales of the latest, more premium iPhones that get launched six months earlier. No doubt the "e" does cannibalize some sales of the regular iPhone--I would think the 16e has become especially popular for enterprise, where the compromises vs a more expensive regular iPhone do not in any way affect its usefulness as a company-issued phone. But it's also no doubt that Apple would have assumed/known this in launching the "e" line. 

mattinoz

They already limit the e to protect sales of upper tier phones. 

Only 1 size and 2 colours so only 1/5 of options of the 16. 

Maybe they’ll cut one of the storage tiers.