The worst thing about the iPhone 17e? It’s not pink enough

My initial reaction to the launch of the iPhone 17e was cautiously positive. They’ve added MagSafe and a faster chip, I noted, exactly as expected. But they’ve also doubled the starting storage at the same price, made the display more scratch-resistant, and added a much-needed third color option.

My optimism did not last long, however. The 17e’s version of MagSafe is capped at 15W compared to the iPhone 16’s 22W and the iPhone 17’s 25W. That faster chip, predictably, is a binned version of the A19 that has one fewer GPU core than the chip in the iPhone 17. And as for the new color? That’s the real insult.

Important background: I’m a big fan, you might even say an evangelist, of pink tech. Back in the fall of 2024 I argued passionately for the inclusion of pink and other vibrant colors on pro devices, and the following month I praised the hot pink of the iPhone 16 Plus, which put its predecessor’s feeble rose blush firmly in the shade.

So I was excited to read that the iPhone 17e now comes in Soft Pink. Then I saw it, and well, I think the word “Soft” is underselling quite how unpink the iPhone 17e appears to be. I might suggest an alternative name, such as Barely Pink or Not Identifiably Pink, or Off-White.

To give an idea of how much Apple’s allegedly pink devices can vary in hue, look at the iPhone 15 Plus (in pink) and the iPhone 16 Plus (also in pink; nice simple names, these) sitting side by side on my armchair. You’ll note that the 15 Plus looks almost white, although there’s a perceptible pinkish tinge if you narrow your eyes. Whereas the 16 Plus is a real and unmistakable pink, bold and unapologetic.

David Price / Foundry

It’s worth noting that real-world photos like this tend to undersell the vibrancy of phone colors, and the 15 Plus doesn’t look quite so washed out in person. But for comparison purposes, this is an effective illustration of how much less pink we got for our money in the 15-series generation.

Now let’s compare the 15 Plus and the 16 Plus to the newly announced iPhone 17e, using Apple’s official artwork. Never forget what they took from you.

Apple

The 17e, as you can clearly see, doesn’t merely go back to the underpowered pink of the iPhone 15 Plus; it manages to be even less pink. One might even suspect that Apple is using a deliberately half-hearted color finish as a way to encourage upsell to a more expensive handset, much as the black/white options last year were one of the 16e’s numerous small disappointments. The iPhone 17 doesn’t offer pink at all, but its sage finish is rather lovely in a more understated way, and is at least identifiably green.

One last illustration, to add a couple of older pink iPhones.

Apple

We can see that the glorious iPhone 16 generation was something of a one-off for Apple. Not even the iPhone XR got a bright pink to go with its bright blue, yellow, and coral. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 13 couldn’t be described as hot pink by any means. But they were still a sight pinker than the iPhone 17e. And I refuse to call that progress.