As expected, Apple has today announced the new iPhone 17e with some worthwhile upgrades over its predecessor.
The new model gets full support for MagSafe wireless charging and storage has been doubled to 256GB for the same price. There is, however, one very surprising thing about the upgrade …
While it had been widely rumored that Apple would ditch the notch for a Dynamic Island, that is in fact not the case. The iPhone 17e, like the model it replaces, still has a notch.
The company of course has to hold back some features from the flagship models in order to prevent would-be buyers of the standard iPhone 17 opting instead for the budget model. But the presence of the notch makes what is a brand new phone immediately look dated.
Compare to Samsung phones. Yes, there are some very low-end models with the equivalent of the notch. We can see this in the $299 Galaxy A26 5G, for example.
However, you don’t have to go much further up the range before we get into displays with a punch hole camera. Just $399 gets you the A36 with 256GB storage:
For the same $599 as the iPhone 17e, the 256GB version of the Google Pixel 9a also gives a punch hole:
Or the Nothing Phone (3) for maybe $40 more for the 256GB model:
I could go on, but you get the idea. Look at any Android smartphone at the same price point and you get a punch hole camera, which gives the display a far slicker and more contemporary look than the iPhone 17e’s notch.
Of course, I understand that Android phones don’t give you Face ID. That requires a bigger cutout, which makes a simple punch hole design impossible.
But we were expecting the iPhone 17e to launch with a Dynamic Island and it hasn’t. Like it or not, that makes a brand new iPhone look dated on the day it was announced.
How big a deal do you think this is? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Image: 9to5Mac/Apple/Avinash Kumar
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