Early signs point to the iPhone 17e heating up behind the scenes

The iPhone 16e. | Image Credit - PhoneArena

A new rumor from China is now saying the iPhone 17e is near its test production phase.

With the iPhone 16e, Apple finally entered the mid-range game seriously. The phone offers a modern look, a powerful processor, and a more moderate price tag. Now, rumors have started to surface on its successor, the iPhone 17e. According to previous rumors, the e-series of iPhones may be getting early refreshes, and this new rumor gives us more info.

According to a new report coming from the Chinese social media website Weibo, Apple is close to starting trial manufacturing of the mid-range device. The only previous rumor about the iPhone 17e came from the same leaker who said that Apple may be working on an iPhone 16e successor.

According to their post, the iPhone 17e is on Apple's agenda and now it is almost in its trial production stage. In another post, the leaker claims the iPhone 17e is scheduled (tentatively) for May of next year.

As you may imagine, it's still very early to have any substantial leaks about this device, so at this point, it's safe to take everything with a grain of salt. Typically though, an iPhone may go into trial production between six and nine months before its official release.

So basically, if the iPhone 17e is to be announced in May 2026, it should enter low-volume test manufacturing in August, not earlier. So if the iPhone is about to enter this trial manufacturing phase soon, this would align more with a release at the end of January next year (nine-ish months later).

And yep, this aligns more-or-less with the iPhone 16e's release, which happened on February 19 this year. Back then, Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, stated that this is the "newest member of the family", referring likely to the iPhone 16 series. On top of that, the name also suggests an annual release for the model.

So far, Fixed Focus Digital doesn't have the cleanest track record. However, they were the first tipster to report that the iPhone SE 4 would be named iPhone 16e, which really did come to fruition.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 16e has proven some successes over even the base model of the premium iPhone 16 series. The iPhone is a relatively good phone, with an excellent processor which allows it to be fast and snappy just like a flagship. Well, that is if you don't count the 60Hz display refresh rate, which this iPhone is stuck with, while midrangers from the competition, such as the Galaxy A56 or the Pixel 9a sport higher refresh rates.

Nothing else is known about the iPhone 17e. Before it, we have the iPhone 17 series to see, and rumors and leaks there have been... to put it mildly, confusing. We may have a dramatic redesign of the iPhone 17 Pro models, a new 'camera bar' look that is somewhat divisive in its design, we also have an iPhone 17 Air rumored to replace an iPhone 17 Plus and to compete for the title of the slimmest iPhone ever.

So, before the iPhone 17e, we have some more surprises to witness. As for the iPhone 17e, we expect it to retain a similar iPhone look as its predecessor and potentially sport a superfast chip that may be in the iPhone 17 series.

When it comes out, it will face tough competition in the mid-range phone market. Phones like the successor of the Galaxy A56 and the successor of the Pixel 9a (we're not hearing much about any of these two, as it's still very early) will be waiting to challenge it. We will likely also have notable competitors from OnePlus, and possibly Nothing.