A brand new leak means that Apple is gearing up for “trial manufacturing” of the iPhone 17e, which is due for launch within the spring of 2026.
The Chinese language leaker, “Fastened Focus Digital,” operates totally on WeChat and Weibo, and has his ear to the bottom of the Chinese language provide chain. He says the iPhone 17e is about to enter “trial manufacturing” which is frequent at this level—it’s principally a small-scale take a look at manufacturing setup meant to search out issues or inefficiencies whereas producing a small variety of take a look at units. That is to provide each Apple time to search out and repair issues in addition to time to regulate the manufacturing line.
When Apple dropped the iPhone SE from its lineup and changed it with the costlier (however extra succesful) iPhone 16e as its most reasonably priced iPhone, we speculated that the title change held loads of significance: Apple would change its most reasonably priced iPhone from a type of random, ad-hoc, multi-year replace cadence to common yearly updates as a part of the usual numbered iPhone lineup.
It could seem that’s the case, not less than in response to this newest rumor. Trial manufacturing of “take a look at” models a 12 months earlier than launch shouldn’t be unusual; quantity manufacturing would begin a number of months earlier than, to provide time for hundreds of thousands of iPhones to be manufactured and journey through cargo ship for its international launch. That launch is claimed to occur subsequent spring, roughly a 12 months after the iPhone 16e went on sale.
We don’t know whether or not Apple will merely substitute the 16e with the brand new mannequin or minimize the worth of the prevailing telephone to $499. Nor do we all know what iPhone 17 options will make their solution to the 17e, however with take a look at models starting to crop up, rumors ought to begin popping up quickly.
