Technologies
iPhone 16E vs. iPhone 16: How Apple’s Budget Phone Compares to the Baseline Model
The $599 iPhone 16E offers a notable discount over the $799 iPhone 16, but there are some key differences. Here’s what to know before choosing your next phone.

The $599 iPhone 16E is Apple’s most affordable iPhone, and it shares many features with the $799 iPhone 16. But there are also some sacrifices you’ll need to make for that $200 discount.
While some core components like the A18 chip, iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence are the same for both devices, there are notable differences across the phones’ cameras, designs and batteries.
Here’s how the more budget-friendly iPhone 16E compares to the baseline iPhone 16.
Display and build
The iPhone 16E and iPhone 16 both have a 6.1-inch OLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate. The 16E has a peak brightness of 1,200 nits, while the 16 reaches 2,000 nits. A ceramic shield front and glass back are featured on each phone.
The devices have an aluminum design and are about as heavy as each other, with the iPhone 16E weighing in at 167 grams and the iPhone 16 at 170 grams.
Both phones also have an Action button, but only the iPhone 16 has a Camera Control button. The Dynamic Island feature is also limited to the pricier model. The devices each have an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.
Apple drops the home button on its new budget phone in favor of Face ID, just like the iPhone 16. Both devices also have a USB-C port, and neither has a headphone jack.
The iPhone 16E comes in black and white, while the iPhone 16 comes in black, white, pink, teal and ultramarine.
Battery and storage
Both the iPhone 16E and 16 come in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB options. Apple boasts that the 16E can get up to 26 hours of video playback and 21 hours of streamed video playback, while the 16 will last for up to 22 hours of video playback and 18 hours of streamed video playback.
One of the reasons behind the cheaper iPhone’s longer battery life is because it runs on Apple’s very first 5G modem, called C1. The company says its C1 modem is the «most power-efficient modem ever in an iPhone» and as a result helps increase the phone’s battery life.
They each support 20-watt wired charging. The iPhone 16E supports 7.5W Qi wireless charging, while the iPhone 16 is capable of 15W Qi2 charging, as well as MagSafe wireless charging up to 25W with a 30W adapter or higher.
Cameras at a glance
You’ll find a 48-megapixel wide camera on both the iPhone 16E and iPhone 16, as well as a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera on the 16. To make up for its lower camera count, the 16E uses sensor cropping to get a 2x magnification for better zoomed-in shots (as does the iPhone 16). Both phones have a 12-megapixel front-facing camera.
You can shoot 4K video at 60 frames per second on each device. On the iPhone 16, you can shoot 1080p spatial video, but only at 30 frames per second.
Apple Intelligence for all
One of the biggest upgrades to Apple’s lower-priced iPhone is the inclusion of Apple Intelligence, which was previously confined to iPhone 15 Pro models and the iPhone 16 lineup. Now you can spend less and still get access to features like a smarter Siri, writing tools and the Clean Up tool in photos.
This move signals Apple’s eagerness to get its AI suite into more people’s hands, and indicates that AI is now a core component of any iPhone, from the cheapest option to the most premium.
Check out the spec chart below for more details on each phone.
Apple iPhone 16E vs. iPhone 16
Apple iPhone 16E | Apple iPhone 16 | |
---|---|---|
Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate | 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display; 2,532×1,170 pixels; 60Hz refresh rate | 6.1-inch OLED Super Retina XDR display; 2,556×1,179 pixels; 60Hz refresh rate |
Pixel density | 460ppi | 460ppi |
Dimensions (inches) | 5.78×2.82×0.31 | 5.81×2.82×0.31 |
Dimensions (millimeters) | 146.7×71.5×7.8 | 147.6×71.6×7.8 |
Weight | 167 grams (5.88 ounces) | 170 grams (6 ounces) |
Mobile software | iOS 18 | iOS 18 |
Camera | 48 megapixel (wide) | 48 megapixel (wide), 12 megapixel (ultrawide) |
Front-facing camera | 12 megapixel | 12 megapixel |
Video capture | 4K at 60fps | 4K at 60fps; spatial video at 1080p at 30fps |
Processor | A18 | A18 |
RAM/storage | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
Expandable storage | No | No |
Battery | Up to 26 hours video playback, 21 hours streamed video playback, 90 hours of audio playback. 20-watt wired charging, 7.5-watt Qi wireless charging | Up to 22 hours video playback; up to 18 hours video playback (streamed). 20-watt wired charging. MagSafe wireless charging up to 25 watts with 30-watt adapter or higher; Qi2 up to 15 watts |
Fingerprint sensor | None (Face ID) | None (Face ID) |
Connector | USB-C | USB-C |
Headphone jack | No | No |
Special features | Action button, Apple C1 5G modem, Apple Intelligence, Ceramic Shield, Emergency SOS, satellite connectivity, IP68 resistance. Colors: black and white. | Apple Intelligence, Action button, Camera Control button, Dynamic Island, 1 to 2,000 nits display brightness range, IP68 resistance, Ceramic Shield. Colors: black, white, pink, teal, ultramarine. |
US price starts at | $599 (128GB), $699 (256GB), $899 (512GB) | $799 (128GB), $899 (256GB), $1,099 (512GB) |
UK price starts at | £599 (128GB), £699 (256GB), £899 (512GB) | £799 (128GB), £899 (256GB), £1,099 (512GB) |
Australia price starts at | AU$999 (128GB), AU$1,199 (256GB), AU$1,549 (512GB) | AU$1,399 (128GB), AU$1,599 (256GB), AU$1,949 (512GB) |
Technologies
Samsung Teases Ultra-Grade Foldable Phone With a ‘Powerful Camera,’ AI Tools
It appears Samsung is stepping up its foldables game this summer.
Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Fold seems to be joining forces with the top-of-the-line Galaxy Ultra.
The company on Wednesday shared a rather cryptic post teasing its next book-stye foldable, noting that it’s bringing «an Ultra-experience» to «a smaller and more portable form factor.» The phone is scheduled to launch this summer, Samsung says, and will include a «powerful camera» and «AI-powered tools» (of course).
Samsung didn’t share much more than that, and hasn’t noted anything else about what’s in store for the successors to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6. But the post does confirm that we can expect foldables in the summer.
This teaser raises many questions. Namely, just how powerful will the camera be on this new phone? Will it, like the skinny S25 Edge, match the 200-megapixel main camera on the S25 Ultra? And will the new foldable’s cover display also match the size of the S25 Ultra?
Samsung appears to be on a «pushing the limits of engineering» kick, what with the recent launch of the super-slim Galaxy S25 Edge, and now this mystery Ultra foldable. We’ll see what other details unfold with time.
Technologies
Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Could Change Your Taxes and Kick Millions Off Medicaid
The GOP’s contentious budget bill was approved by the House by the narrowest possible margin last month, and was recently lambasted by former Trump advisor Elon Musk.
One of the central economic pursuits of President Donald Trump’s second term — you know, besides all those tariffs — has been the passage of the «One Big Beautiful Bill,» a measure that aims to encompass numerous goals in one piece of legislation, including the extension of the 2017 tax cuts and slashing funding for services like Medicaid and SNAP in order to offset those cuts.
After many back-and-forths, negotiations and failed votes, the bill passed in the House of Representatives by the thinnest margin possible, 215-214-1. All Democrats voted against it, joined by two Republicans, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio. An additional Republican, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, voted present. The bill now moves to the Senate, where it is expected to face more alterations before getting across the finish line.
While the GOP has been attempting to use the reconciliation process to avoid the bill being filibustered by Democrats, it is still expected to face intra-party dissent similar to what it faced in the House over its cuts either being too severe or not severe enough. Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO and one-time Trump advisor who led the «DOGE» government consolidation efforts, spoke out against the bill in unsparing fashion in a Tuesday post to X, decrying it as too heavy on spending.
«This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,» Musk wrote. «Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.»
Despite the broad nature of the bill, one of its central goals remains the extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts. Passed for the first time early in his first term, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as it was officially known, was one of Trump’s signature legislative accomplishments and has generally become known as the «Trump tax cuts.» Given the nature of how that bill was passed initially, a lot of its provisions are set to expire next year if a new extension isn’t passed, so doing just that has unsurprisingly emerged as a major priority for Trump and the GOP-led houses of Congress.
The president and his allies have also tried to claim that his aggressive tariff agenda could help offset the extension of the tax cuts, although, as we’ve touched on before at CNET, that is just one of the often-contradictory stated goals for the tariffs.
Details about the budget bill Republicans have emerged in the past few weeks as it moved through the House Ways and Means Committee approval process. The Congressional Budget Office, an agency that provides estimates about the economic impacts of budgetary bills that is not affiliated with any party, estimated that the cuts called for in this bill would cost millions of people their health insurance and food benefits. The proposal initially failed to pass a vote in the House, leading to its cuts for Medicaid becoming even heavier.
All this comes in addition to the longstanding criticism from Democrats and other critics that Trump’s tax cuts disproportionately help the wealthiest Americans more than the working class. While there is truth to that argument, and to the Republican counter that the tax cuts would provide some help to taxpayers at all incomes, the new proposed cuts unveiled this week have given more weight to the notion that they will be more harmful for the least wealthy Americans.
For all the details about what extending the tax cuts will actually mean and what the current terms mean for things like Medicaid, keep reading. For more, find out if Trump could actually abolish the Department of Education.
How will the budget bill impact Medicaid?
According to the estimates from the Congressional Budget Office mentioned at the start of this piece, at least 7.6 million Americans would lose Medicaid health insurance under the provisions in the budget proposal. That’s nearly 11% of the 70 million Americans who are currently insured by Medicaid. The proposal would, among other things, require people without dependent children or a disability to meet an 80-hour-a-month work requirement to qualify for Medicaid and increase the frequency with which people will need to confirm their continued eligibility.
These new requirements were originally set to take effect in 2029 under the bill’s failed House version, but they were moved forward to 2026 in the bill’s passed version.
What would extending the Trump tax cuts mean?
While the phrase «Trump tax cuts» has become a common media shorthand for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the current conversation around it might suggest that new cuts could be on the way. Although Trump has floated ideas for additional cuts, it’s important to note that extending the 2017 provisions would, for the most part, keep tax rates and programs at the levels they’ve been at since then.
So while it may be a better option than having the provisions expire — which would increase certain tax rates and decrease certain credits — extending the tax cuts most likely won’t change how you’ve been taxed the past eight years. However, some estimates have predicted that extending the cuts would boost income in 2026, with the conservative-leaning Tax Foundation in particular predicting a 2.9% rise on average, based on a combination of other economic predictions combined with tax rates staying where they are.
What would change if the Trump tax cuts expire?
Republicans contend that the tax cuts helped a wide swath of Americans, and the Tax Foundation predicted that 60% of tax filers would see higher rates in 2026 without an extension.
A big part of that has to do with tax bracket changes. The 2017 provisions lowered the income tax rates across the seven brackets, aside from the first (10%) and the sixth (35%). If the current law expires, those rates would go up by between 1% and 3%.
Income limits for each bracket would also revert to pre-2017 levels. Lending credence to the Democrats’ counterarguments, these shifts under the Trump tax cuts appeared to be more beneficial to individuals and couples at higher income levels than to those making closer to the average US income.
If you’re interested in the nitty-gritty numbers, you can check out the Tax Foundation’s full breakdown. Another point in Democrats’ favor? The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act also cut corporate tax rates from 35% to 21%, and unlike many of its other provisions, this one was permanent and won’t expire in 2026.
What would happen to the standard deduction?
This is another area in which a lot of people would be hit hard. The standard deduction lets taxpayers lower their taxable income, as long as they forgo itemizing any deductions.
For the 2025 tax year, the standard deduction is $15,000 for individual filers and $30,000 for joint filers. If the tax cuts expire, these numbers will drop by nearly half, down to $8,350 for individuals and $16,700 for joint filers.
Under the current reconciliation bill, the deduction would increase to $16,000 for individuals and $32,000 for joint filers, but only through 2028.
What would happen to the child tax credit?
The child tax credit is one of the most popular credits. Its current levels — $2,000 per qualifying child, which phases out starting at a gross income of $200,000 for single filers and $400,000 for joint filers — were actually set by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
If an extension or new bill isn’t passed, next year the child tax credit would revert to its old levels: $1,000 per child, which starts phasing out at $75,000 for single filers and $110,000 for joint filers.
If the current budget bill is implemented, the credit will be upped to $2,500 per child through 2028, before dropping to $2,000 as its new permanent rate.
Do the Trump tax cuts really favor the wealthy?
Higher-income individuals and couples fared notably better with the changes the Trump tax cuts made to tax brackets. An estimate from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank, found that the poorest 20% of Americans would see only about 1% of the bill’s net tax cuts. Numerous similar estimates agree that these small benefits for the poorest taxpayers would be outweighed by rising costs caused by tariffs.
Conversely, ITEP’s estimate found that the richest 20% of US taxpayers would benefit from around 67% of the bill’s net tax cuts, with the richest 5% benefitting from half of them.
How much would extending the tax cuts cost?
Both the Congressional Budget Office and the Tax Foundation have estimated that the reconciliation bill’s tax cut extension would raise the US deficit by $4.5 trillion over the course of 10 years. The Tax Foundation also estimated that it could raise the country’s GDP to offset that number, but only by about $710 billion, or about 16% of the deficit increase.
For more, see how Trump’s tariffs might be affecting the prices of several key products in our daily tracker.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for June 4, #254
Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 254, for June 4.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.
If you’re following the Stanley Cup finals, then today’s Connections: Sports Edition might be a dream puzzle for you. (I still miss my Minnesota North Stars, moved to Dallas before we fans ever got to celebrate Lord Stanley’s Cup. Read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.
Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta
Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Rink roles.
Green group hint: Great White North groups.
Blue group hint: Turn that red light on.
Purple group hint: Recent hockey champions.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Hockey positions.
Green group: Canadian NHL teams.
Blue group: Types of hockey goals.
Purple group: Last four Stanley Cup winners.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is hockey positions. The four answers are center, defenseman, goaltender and winger.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is Canadian NHL teams. The four answers are Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Ottawa.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is types of hockey goals. The four answers are empty net, even strength, power play and short-handed.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is last four Stanley Cup winners. The four answers are Colorado, Florida, Tampa Bay and Vegas.
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