In summary:
- Macworld reports the iPhone 17e may launch within a week, featuring a ‘binned’ A19 chip that’s less powerful than the standard A19 processor.
- The device is expected to cost $599 with 8GB RAM, 48MP camera, Dynamic Island, and improved low-light photography capabilities.
- While offering solid mid-range features, the iPhone 17e appears to make processor compromises that may disappoint performance-focused users.
The iPhone 17e, one of Apple’s most highly anticipated products for 2026, could arrive in less than a week. But the announcement is unlikely to hold many surprises, because the leaks are now coming thick and fast.
Take the tech specs. We’re reasonably confident that the 17e will feature most or all of the following: an A19 processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of starting storage (up from 128GB), a C1X modem, the same single 48MP rear-facing camera as on the 16e (although the selfie camera could get an upgrade), a 60Hz 6.1-inch screen, support for MagSafe, and a starting price of $599. These theories have all been fairly consistent for some time.
Even if those theories are all correct, however, there’s still room for nuance. Such as the A19 processor. Will Apple give the 17e the same A19 as on the iPhone 17, or a version that’s slightly less powerful?
Last year’s iPhone 16e has the A18, but it’s a “binned” version of the one in the iPhone 16; that means Apple takes the chips with minor manufacturing defects (fewer CPU or GPU cores) and uses those in its cheaper products. This is all done in an open and transparent way (the iPhone 16e is listed as having just four GPU cores compared to the iPhone 16’s five for precisely this reason) but does mean what seems on first glance to be the same processor can vary in its actual performance.
Until now it’s not been clear whether Apple intended to use the same binned-chip strategy with the iPhone 17e. But a new video from the controversial YouTuber Jon Prosser makes the confident prediction (confidence being one of Prosser’s principal characteristics) that it will.
“Inside iPhone 17e you’re getting a slightly binned A19 chip,” he says. “Trust me, the people buying this phone aren’t going to notice.”
The second sentence might end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy, of course… or a self-solving problem. Because the tech-savvier buyers who would have an issue with binned-chip performance will be aware of it and simply not get an iPhone 17e.
In most other respects, Prosser simply corroborates those widely accepted theories mentioned earlier. He agrees that we can expect 8GB of RAM, a non-ProMotion screen, a $599 starting price tag, and so on.
But there are a few other interesting titbits. Prosser ascribes, firstly, to the theory that the 17e will upgrade from the notch on the 16e to the Dynamic Island. He isn’t the first pundit to suggest this, but it’s a prediction with far less consensus behind it than the rest. He admits that he’s not as confident about this prediction as the A19, but notes Apple should be “embarrassed” if the iPhone 17e sticks with the notch for another year.)
The rear camera will get improved low-light performance, he claims. He expects the baseline storage to stay at 128GB for $599 (that’s assuming I correctly interpreted his “For 600 bucks? Uh-uh!”). Oh, and he thinks there will be a third color option beyond black and white, that could be lavender, which was apparently in testing some months ago.
This latest batch of leaks is unlikely to make Apple feel any better disposed towards Prosser, whom the company is currently suing over what it claims to be a coordinated scheme to steal and profit from its secrets. He denies the accusation.
For all the latest news and rumors as we get closer to the launch, bookmark our regularly updated iPhone 17e guide.
Author: David Price, Editor, Macworld
David has been writing about technology for well over two decades, and got on board the Apple hype train when covering the original iPhone launch in 2007. He is an enthusiastic Apple Watch evangelist and feels that the HomePod is misunderstood.