The Camera

The single camera on the iPhone 16e was long rumored to be the same 48MP Fusion camera found on the iPhone 16 (and the iPhone 15 before it — the sensors and lenses for the primary camera are reportedly the same, but Apple didn’t add the “Fusion” moniker until the iPhone 16).

Everything about that makes sense. The only way Apple can justify selling an iPhone with only a single camera in 2025 is to promote it as more than just an ordinary camera. The 48MP Fusion sensor lets it act as a virtual telephoto camera, offering a 12MP 2x zoom from the same lens.

Unfortunately, that single lens has more limitations than most folks may realize on the surface. There’s no macro photography, as that requires an Ultra Wide lens with autofocus (the standard iPhone 16 only gained that this year). There’s also no Spatial photo/video capture, Portrait Mode with Focus and Depth Control, or Cinematic video recording, all likely for the same reasons.

Nevertheless, the Fusion camera and A18 chip provide several upgrades over the iPhone 14 that inspired this new model. It’s on par with the iPhone 16 in offering Smart HDR 5, plus Wind Noise reduction and Audio Mix for video recording.

However, the iPhone 16e also takes a step back from the iPhone 14 by lacking sensor-shift optical image stabilization, an omission that seemingly costs it support for Action mode video recording.

Lastly, there’s one other limitation that feels arbitrary: Photographic styles. The iPhone 16 lineup introduced a fun new set of Photographic Styles that offered greater customization and the ability to apply and change them in photos after the fact. The iPhone 16e omits these, putting it on the same footing as the iPhone 15 with only the basic four styles: Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm, or Cool. Is there a technical limitation that prevents Apple from adding these to the iPhone 16e? Possibly, but if so, it’s certainly nothing obvious as the iPhone 16e has (mostly) the same A18 chip, and there’s no indication the latest generation of Photographic Styles requires additional lenses.