Does iPhone need its own MacBook Neo moment?

Apple debuted iPhone 16e last year at its $599 price point – and it’s been an okay phone since. It got refreshed this year with an A19 chipset, more storage, and MagSafe, but for the most part, its positioning in the market hasn’t really changed. It’s an okay phone at an okay price.

It’s been selling decently, but it hasn’t really been a killer appeal to Android users in the same way that MacBook Neo has been for PC users. I think that could change.

There was something magical about the MacBook Neo launch earlier this year that was never felt with the iPhone 16e launch a year prior. As I said earlier, iPhone 16e is just an okay phone at an okay price. In contrast, MacBook Neo is a good laptop at a great price.

MacBook Neo shattered expectations for what Apple could make, meanwhile iPhone 16e/17e have been exactly in line with what you’d expect from Apple. They haven’t been a killer value, just cheaper iPhones.

If Apple wanted to really break into the Android market, I think they could do something more radical – and John Ternus’ leadership could get us exactly that.

An even cheaper iPhone

Rather than taking a parts-bin approach like iPhone 16e, I think iPhone 18e (or perhaps this could be positioned as an iPhone Neo) could be built from the ground up to be a cheaper iPhone, like MacBook Neo.

Maybe instead of using an older OLED display, it could use an LCD panel to save on cost. Maybe it’d feature Face ID instead of Touch ID, and maybe it’d feature a 12MP camera instead of 48MP. It could even come in with a smaller 5.8-inch display to appeal to small phone fans. Instead of an A20 chip, it could feature less, perhaps an A18.

I do think Apple would want to still keep an aluminum and glass build, but either way – I think if Apple could figure out how to package a phone at the magical $399 price point, it could convince a lot of Android users to switch, especially in markets with weaker economies. In the US, the price of the device doesn’t really matter since most people are financing it with some sort of carrier deal – but in many places, iPhones are simply too expensive.

In all likelihood, I don’t think this device would necessarily need to replace the iPhone 18e. It could probably sit beneath it, and both devices would probably still have a clear market. Nonetheless, I think it would be incredibly interesting to see Apple take a MacBook Neo-like swing at the Android market, just like they did with the PC market.

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