William Gallagher
Another rumor about the expected iPhone 17e claims that Apple is close to starting trial manufacturing of it, about a year before it's due to launch.
The only previous rumor about an iPhone 17e came from leaker "Fixed Focus Digital" in February 2025. Now the same leaker is back to say more, if slightly tediously.
"The transformation of the 17e production line has been put on the agenda...," he or she writes on Weibo (in translation.) "Riddle: There will still be 17e next year, and now it is almost in the trial production stage."
In a subsequent update, the leaker says that the iPhone 17e "is tentatively scheduled for May [2026]."
There are no other leaks about the iPhone 17e, but there is a question over what this rumor means by saying the model is "almost" in trial production. Typically, an iPhone will go into trial production between six and nine months before it released.
To come out in May 2026, the iPhone 17e would normally be expected to enter low-volume test manufacturing in August 2026 at the earliest. Consequently, if the iPhone 17e is genuinely about to enter this stage, even nine months would put the release at the end of January 2026.
That would actually fit better with how the iPhone 16e was announced on February 19, 2025. At the time, Tim Cook described it as "the newest member of the family," which has been taken to mean it will be updated annually.
If there is an iPhone 17e at all, it doesn't seem likely that Apple would either delay manufacturing, or build up a stockpile of early production units in China and other countries for months. So if the leaker is correct about the iPhone 17e nearing trial production, he or she is most likely to be wrong about a May 2026 release.
That said, while Fixed Focus Digital has only an average track record for leaks, he or she did have one very significant success. Fixed Focus Digital was one of the very first leakers to report that the expected iPhone SE 4 would be renamed the iPhone 16e.
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Christine McKee
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
Marko Zivkovic
8 Comments
It makes sense to release in September. The 16e looks very over priced, part of that is because it came out months after the standard iPhone 16’s which were already discounted by stores, as such the price gap is £100 or less.
I would expect Apple to keep its late February/early March launch for the e phones. Coming at the midpoint of the cycle for the regular and Pro models, it brings renewed press and marketing attention to the whole iPhone line-up at a time when, up until now, the only iPhone chatter has been about what's coming in September. And with the 16e being an all-new model, you can bet right now that the 17e will be the same phone with a chip upgrade.
My wife was just issued a 16e by her company as her work phone, and I have to think this phone has been a huge hit for enterprise. The phone is unexpectedly gorgeous in person--I think the best looking iPhone, hands down, and really premium feeling in-hand. The black model is stunning, the Darth Vader of phones, with a true black back (finally!) and sides to match the black screen when inactive. Honestly, if I didn't love the camera system in my Pro, this would be the iPhone I'd buy--slim, light, minimal camera bump.