Just now, Apple's new iPhone has arrived. You can get the latest A19 chip for 3,999 yuan, and the memory doubles without a price increase.

For just 4,499 yuan, you can get an iPhone powered by Apple's latest A19 chip. With the national subsidy, the price might even drop to the "3,000-yuan range". Tonight, Tim Cook really pulled out all the stops.

According to ZDXX on March 2nd, Apple has just unveiled the first wave of its spring product blitz: the long - awaited "value - for - money" iPhone, the iPhone 17e, and the 8th - generation iPad Air from the tablet lineup.

The 256GB iPhone 17e is priced at 4,499 yuan. Compared to the starting price of 5,999 yuan for the iPhone 17, it's a full 1,500 yuan cheaper. And compared to the previous - generation iPhone 16e with 128GB at the same price, the storage capacity is directly doubled.

Based on a 15% national subsidy and a maximum subsidy amount of 500 yuan, the 4,499 - yuan iPhone 17e could cost as little as 3,999 yuan, intensifying the competition with Android phones.

Against the backdrop of rising storage costs, Tim Cook's move is quite impressive. Such supply - chain capabilities might make many competitors envious.

However, considering the popularity of the iPhone 17 series and the fact that the iPhone 17 Pro Max was the top prize at many company year - end parties during the Spring Festival, true Apple fans might have already got their dream iPhones.

Since it ends with "e", its positioning is clear — to attract more users to the Apple ecosystem with a more appealing price.

Overall, the iPhone 17e can be seen as a retro - looking, more affordable iPhone. It's similar to the standard flagship iPhone in terms of chip performance and battery life. It can run the latest iOS system, support Apple Intelligence, and is equipped with Apple's self - developed baseband chip C1X. Apple claims that C1X offers up to 2 times better performance than C1.

The iPhone 17e also supports MagSafe with a maximum power of 15W, the same as the iPhone 17 Pro Max. That's a plus.

The new iPad Air starts at 4,799 yuan, the same as the previous model. It comes with a starting storage of 128GB. Compared to the iPhone 17e, the new iPad Air seems to be just a regular upgrade. The performance improvement allows it to perform better in office productivity and creative applications.

The iPad Air has upgraded its chip from the M3 in the previous generation to the M4, one generation behind the M5 in the iPad Pro. The official website information for the screen, front - camera, rear - camera, interface, and speakers remains the same as the previous model.

As for the purchase time, according to the official website, both the iPhone 17e and the iPad Air will start accepting pre - orders at 10:15 PM on March 4th and will be available on March 11th.

So, where exactly did they cut the 1,500 yuan? To be honest, there are quite a few cuts.

In terms of appearance, at first glance, the front still features the "big notch" screen from the iPhone X era, without the Dynamic Island. It's exactly the same as the previous - generation iPhone 16e, and it has the same aluminum frame as the iPhone 17.

The single rear - camera is simple, but it also indicates that its photography capabilities are limited (it only has a single camera). The shooting focal length is restricted, and it only supports 2x zoom.

In terms of size, the iPhone 17e is smaller, with a 6.1 - inch screen. To some extent, it meets the needs of "small - screen enthusiasts".

Overall, when you hold it in your hand, it's hard for others to tell that you're using a "new iPhone".

Although the appearance hasn't kept up with the overall product iteration, the "inside" of the iPhone 17e has a lot to offer.

It's directly equipped with the Apple A19 chip, only one step behind the iPhone 17 Pro Max in terms of the chip. However, compared to the A19 in the iPhone 17, the A19 in the 17e has one less core in the GPU.

In terms of battery life, the 26 - hour battery life of the iPhone 17e is similar to the 17 - hour life of the lightweight iPhone Air, the same as the previous generation, but 4 hours less than the iPhone 17.

In terms of imaging, the front - camera of the iPhone 17e only has 12 megapixels. In terms of features, compared to the iPhone 17, it lacks important features such as tap - to - zoom, rotation, centered portrait shooting, video super - stabilization, simultaneous dual - shooting, and centered portrait in video calls.

As we all know, the front - camera capabilities of the iPhone 17 series have been significantly upgraded this time. This cut is quite substantial.

For rear - camera photography, the iPhone 17e only has a single 48 - megapixel main camera. However, this main camera has relatively few feature cuts. It supports ultra - high - resolution shooting, the new - generation portrait function, focus control, and depth control, and can shoot 4K 60fps Dolby Vision videos.

In terms of communication, the iPhone 17e supports dual - SIM cards and dual eSIMs. Users can activate two eSIMs or one nano - SIM card and one eSIM.

On the software side, the iPhone 17e also supports Apple Intelligence, but Apple hasn't mentioned if there will be any feature restrictions. So far, Apple Intelligence hasn't been launched in the Chinese mainland market. Whether the Apple press conference on Wednesday will announce further developments of Apple Intelligence has become the focus of everyone's attention.

So, will you buy the new iPhone 17e?

This article is from the WeChat official account "ZDXX" (ID: zhidxcom). Author: Yun Peng, Editor: Li Shuiqing. Republished by 36Kr with permission.