Locator: 48589APPLE.
My hunch: won't be able to keep up with demand.
What is Apple thinking: they introduce a chip that took years to develop and cost billions and eliminated Qualcomm as a third party supplier and put it in their least expensive phone. What were they thinking? LOL. And, oh, by the way, it has satellite connectivity. Who wouldn't want it?
$25 / month = one visit to Starbucks each week. Or a single entre / drink at any upscale family restaurant. I honestly don't get it -- that folks don't understand this -- telecom service would be about the same. Perfect starter phone for any high school student and, perhaps, an older middle schooler.
One can pay for it over two years, but if it last three years: $17 / month. My hunch: this will be heavily subsidized by the carrier.
Satellite connectivity? Yes.
Longevity: one gets the feeling this model was made and is being marketed to last at least the next five years, or the next six years, which would mean three two-year cycles.
Camera: holy mackerel -- current (third generation) SE has a 12MP camera. The new iPhone 16e's camera is a 48MP! Truly amazing. Front-facing camera jumps from 7MP to 12MP and matches the front-facing camera of all the other "16" iPhones, including the top of the line, iPhone 16 Pro.
For investors, one would assume the costs associated with the C1 chip have pretty much been sunk costs. See Qualcomm.
X: numerous links -- we will start with this link.
And then, this one.
More, link here:
More, link here:
Where is the Apple C1 chip manufactured: in Arizona, need be, to get around tariff issues -- that's why Tim Cook went to Washington, DC, to talk to Trump.
This is revolutionary:
To the best of my recollection the C1 was not mentioned over at MacRumors. Today was the first time most of us have been introduced to the C1. There is nothing yet over at "wiki" with regard to the C1 except stating that it is the first such chip / modem for Apple. See Apple Silicon. I would say that's revolutionary -- and Apple kept it a big secret.
- MacRumors, link here. There must be no less than a dozen separate MacRumors stories regarding this new phone -- ten stories means this is "revolutionary," not evolutionary!
- 8 GB of RAM for AI;
- phases out Lightning Port;
- no more 64 GB of storage; iPhones now start with 128 GB of storage; link here;
- here it is, Apple's first custom cellular modem; link here;
The Verge, link here.
Apple’s first in-house iPhone modem is the C1 The iPhone 16E will be the C1’s proving ground.
Apple has just introduced the iPhone 16E, a spiritual successor to the iPhone SE line that has a significant first: it introduces Apple’s long-awaited in-house 5G modem called the C1.
The chip, which Apple says is the most power-efficient modem in a phone, is Apple’s bid to end its reliance on Qualcomm’s 5G chips. Apple says the chip contributes to the 16E’s longer battery life.
The company says the phone’s internal design is optimized to support a larger battery, giving it up to 26 hours of video playback. According to Apple’s technical specifications for the iPhone 16E, its new chip covers much of the same low-end 5G spectrum as the iPhone 16 but lacks mmWave — that’s the 5G with gigabit-territory throughput.
The C1 starting in the 16E makes sense: the $599 device is now the cheapest way to get one of Apple’s thin-bezel phones with Apple Intelligence. If this inaugural outing for the chip doesn’t end up being great, people may chalk it up to this being a more affordable phone.
The WSJ: link here.
Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, an update to a budget-friendly version of its flagship device.
The most significant change to the phone will be invisible to users. Inside the phone is Apple’s first in-house cellular chip—a critical component for smartphones that enables cellular connections.
The chip, which Apple dubbed the C1, is a long-awaited next step in Apple’s efforts to make more of its own technology, and especially to wean itself from having to pay billions annually to cellular-chip-maker and rival Qualcomm QCOM.
The new iPhone 16e will be available at the end of this month, selling for $599. The 16e is priced at a level consistent with previous generations of Apple’s lowest-priced iPhone, the SE, which was released in 2022 with a starting price of $429. The phase-out of that SE model will bring an end to the home button, which would grant access to the device using a fingerprint reader. The 16e will use Face ID instead.
Apple Wiki C1: link here.
Not much here yet at wiki: link here.
Tickers:
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A Musical Interlude
"Many refer to 1971 as the most pivotal and exciting of the Rock Era, and I wholeheartedly agree with [the top three below .. which was easy]. So, I'm doing the impossible ... I'm counting down the Top 10 songs from this emblematic year."
From the link below:
Led Zeppelin: link here. The Vikings' National Anthem.
