
The iPhone 16e stands out as Apple’s only iPhone with a single-lens rear camera. While it shares the same 48-megapixel Wide lens as the iPhone 16, it is missing several advanced camera features found in the iPhone 16. With its 48-megapixel Fusion lens, the iPhone 16e offers a standard 1x field of view along with a 2x zoom option.
However, it lacks a Telephoto lens for additional zoom capabilities and doesn’t include an Ultra Wide lens for wide-angle or macro shots. The absence of a second lens also means there’s no support for spatial image and video capture. The iPhone 16e retains features like True Tone flash, the Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, and Smart HDR 5.
However, next-generation portrait options, such as Focus Control and updated Photographic Styles, are not available. While you can adjust focus after taking a Portrait shot, there’s no option to tap and change the subject of the photo like on the iPhone 16. Photographic Styles allow iPhone 16, 16 Pro, and Pro Max users to set an overall look for photos captured with the camera, but this feature is absent on the 16e.
That said, older style filters are still available. The iPhone 16e also misses out on several video recording features like Cinematic mode and Action mode. However, it does support the new Audio Mix feature.
When it comes to the front camera, the iPhone 16 and 16e share most features. The key exceptions are the lack of Cinematic mode, Photographic Styles, and Depth Control for Portrait shots on the iPhone 16e..