Why did Apple make the iPhone 16 so good?

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are available in five bold colors: black, white, pink, teal, and ultramarine.
Apple did something with the iPhone 16 line that raised a few eyebrows. After strongly delineating the differences between base iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models, the company designed the base iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models stronger than ever, providing fewer reasons to upgrade to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. But there might be a reason – one that didn’t exist during the iPhone 15 cycle – that explains why: the widely anticipated iPhone SE 4, expected to launch in spring 2025.
Ryan Christoffel for 9to5Mac:
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The base iPhone 16 is extremely compelling, and has I suspect tempted more Pro buyers than ever to ‘downgrade.’
So why did Apple make it so good? I think the iPhone SE 4 is the reason.
vSeveral reports have indicated that next spring’s iPhone SE 4 is going to bring major change to Apple’s budget option… Overall, the iPhone SE 4 appears to offer the best value ever in an SE model.
We don’t know the price yet, but let’s assume it starts around the current $429 — or even as high as $499.
All of the above features will make the iPhone SE 4 a very tempting alternative to the iPhone 16.
It would have been very hard to upsell cost-conscious buyers from the SE to the iPhone 16. The ~$300 upgrade wouldn’t have gained you all that much. But with the iPhone 16 we did get, there are more reasons to buy a 16 instead of the SE.

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MacDailyNews Take: Very likely true. Apple knows what’s coming with iPhone SE 4 and they very carefully (somewhat deviously) build their model lines, in every product category, to encourage customers to upsell themselves. Apple are masters of product differentiation. So, when iPhone SE 4 launches this spring (little birdie says “March”), the iPhone lineup will be complete, we’ll have some Apple Intelligence features out there, available in every new iPhone from the SE to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and Apple’s differentiation strategy will be in full effect.

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