As many of you know, Appleannounced the iPhone 16e yesterday. That is essentially the iPhone SE 4, but with a new name. With that being said, the iPhone 16e comes with a nerfed version of the iPhone 16’s camera.
The iPhone 16e has a nerfed version of the iPhone 16’s camera
There is a single camera included on the back of this phone. That is a 48-megapixel wide-angle camera from the iPhone 16. The thing is, it’s lacking some of the features the iPhone 16 offers. There’s also no ultrawide camera on the back of this phone, but that’s an entirely different thing.
This camera provides you with a standard 1x option, and a 2x zoom option (digital zoom). Spatial image and video capture is out of the question, as there’s only one camera here. You’re also not getting ultrawide FoV, the same goes for a macro shooting option, because of the lack of a second camera.
That is all a given considering that there’s no ultrawide camera, of course. That’s not what we meant when we said it’s “a nerfed version”. We were referring to the main camera alone, as that one is also not offering all the features you’d get with the iPhone 16.
Next-gen portraits are not supported, nor the latest Photographic Styles
While you’re getting True Tone flash, Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, and Smart HDR5 options here, some things are missing. The iPhone 16e does not support next-generation portraits with Focus Control or the latest Photographic Styles.
When you’re taking portrait shots, you can adjust focus afterward, but there is no option to change the subject of the photo like on the iPhone 16.
When it comes to Photographic Styles, the iPhone 16 models received an option to set an overall look for all images captured with the iPhone camera. That happened back in September, at launch.
That’s not an option on the iPhone 16e. You do have access to older style filters, however, if that’s all you need.
The selfie camera feature set is also not the same
The selfie camera also doesn’t offer the same set of features. All are the same except the support for Cinematic mode, Photographic Styles, and Depth Control for Portrait shots.