iPhone 16e vs iPhone 12: You should probably upgrade

Apple launched a new model without much of a fuss and very quickly gave a lot of people reason to reach out and grab this little beauty. The iPhone 16e is now official, rendering a bunch of previous-generation iPhone devices completely obsolete. The phone is more of a trimmed-down version of the iPhone 16 than a new SE model, hence the change in the naming scheme.

And for the $599 Apple asks for it, this model really takes the "essential" approach to heart. Mind you, we don't know what the "e" stands for, and Apple wouldn't tell us, either. Anyway, we've already compared this exciting new model to a bunch of older iPhones, and now it's time to put the iPhone 12 in the hot seat.

The iPhone 12 series was the first big design change since the iPhone X, and in the past couple of generations Apple has been exploiting the same flat-side and kind of boxy approach with minor tweaks, mainly to the notch and the camera housing.

We can blabber a whole day about this, but the important question here is, should you upgrade to the iPhone 16e if you're coming from the iPhone 12? Let's find out!

The iPhone 12 marked a big redesign step for Apple, giving birth to the flat sides and rectangular design we're all so familiar with by now. Since the inception of the iPhone 12, all subsequent generations have followed the same design language more or less, and the iPhone 16e is no exception.

These two phones are very similar both in feel and also in looks. The new iPhone 16e exploits the same flat-sided, boxy design with a flat display and also a flat glass back. The size and weight of both phones are extremely close; the iPhone 12 is just 0.4 mm thinner and 3 grams lighter.

The biggest difference is the camera housing—there's only one hole on the back of the iPhone 16e to accommodate the main camera, while the iPhone 12 has a dual camera system with one additional ultra-wide snapper. Viewed from the front, both look very similar once more, with the old notch concept housing the front camera and FaceID sensors. However, the notch is smaller and narrower on the iPhone 16e. Below you will find the exact dimensions of both phones.

iPhone 12 dimensions and weight:
146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4 mm, 164 grams

iPhone 16e dimensions and weight:
146.7 x 71.5 x 7.8 mm, 167 grams

It's wonderful to have a phone that weighs about 160 grams in 2025. Even though the iPhone 16e contains current hardware, Apple has managed to keep the weight down, as smartphones these days are constantly 200 grams. However, the new model is not doing well in terms of color.

The iPhone 16e is only available in black and white for some reason. That's what you're getting in terms of color right now; however, we're not sure if there will be more shades in the future. The iPhone 12 comes in the following colors: purple, blue, green, red, white, and black.

The iPhone 12 series was the first lineup to feature OLED displays throughout the whole range. Gone were the days of the old LCD, and even though Apple tried to keep the historians busy with a couple of SE models with LCD screens, the new iPhone 16e has an OLED panel. We can't think of the model as a spiritual successor to the SE line anymore; this line is dead, at least for now. The iPhone 16e is just an affordable variant of the main flagship series, so expect this trend to continue with the iPhone 17. But we digress.

Back to the screens of the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 16e. There aren't huge differences between these two when it comes to resolution, size, refresh rate, and even brightness. Both phones use 6.1-inch OLED panels with 1170 x 2532 pixel resolution (around 460 PPI) and a 60Hz refresh rate. The peak brightness figures are also identical at 1200 nits, while the high brightness mode on the iPhone 12 is lower on paper (625 nits vs 800 nits on the iPhone 16e).

Well, all these numbers will be tested once we have the iPhone 16e in our lab, but the iPhone 12 managed to output just 619 nits at 100% APL, which is on the lower side, especially in 2025. Another thing that's unacceptable is the 60Hz refresh rate on flagship phones, but both of these come with the same choppy 60Hz, while $200 budget phones now have 90Hz or more.

In terms of biometrics, both the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 16e use FaceID positioned in the notch. The latter is bigger on the iPhone 12 as well.

Well, the iPhone 12 uses Apple's A14 Bionic, which is a 5nm chipset, while the iPhone 16e comes equipped with the latest silicon (albeit of the non-pro variety), the A18 chip. These 2 nanometers of difference account for a huge performance leap, and more importantly—they are AI-enabling.

Even though the iPhone 12 still feels smooth and fast thanks to the way Apple's ecosystem and app optimization work, the big difference lies in Apple Intelligence. Apple is playing catch-up at the moment, but the company will get there, and the iPhone 16e will be one of the models to go along for the ride. Not so with the iPhone 12. Apple Intelligence requires the A17 Pro or later on the hardware side, so there are limited AI features on that model.

In terms of synthetic benchmarks (stay tuned for those), the iPhone 16e will obliterate the much older iPhone 12, but it really doesn't matter all that much, as the everyday performance is fluid on both phones.

It should come as no surprise that the RAM and storage situation favors the iPhone 16e. While the 16e increases base storage and RAM to 8GB/128GB for the most basic model, the iPhone 12 starts with 64GB of base storage and only 4GB of RAM (which is another reason why most, if not all, AI functions aren't available on the model).

The new iPhone 16e features one wide-angle camera, but it's quite a good one. It's the same 48MP Fusion Camera we can find in the regular iPhone 16, with an aperture of f/1.6, 24MP and 48MP Super Hi-Res capabilities, Visual Intelligence support, and other bells and whistles.

On the other hand, we have the iPhone 12 with its two 12MP wide and ultra-wide cameras. These aren't bad, but smartphone photography has come a long way since 2020. Software updates can only do so much, and the iPhone 12 will most likely lose this battle.

If you absolutely need an ultrawide camera, the iPhone 16e can't magically produce one out of thin air, but in all other cases, it's the better phone. We will add side-by-side samples from both phones to illustrate all the real-life differences, so stay tuned.

Apple doesn't list the exact capacity of the batteries inside its iPhone devices, so we have to physically open them to read those numbers. However, given that the iPhone 16e is based on the iPhone 14 (similar size, display, and weight), we can assume that the battery inside is in the same ballpark of around 3300 mAh.

The iPhone 12 on the other hand, downgraded the battery capacity compared to its predecessor to 2815mAh, which was modest back in the day, and it's tiny by modern standards (flagships are starting to push the 6000 mAh threshold now). Now, whether or not this will translate to a substantial difference in battery life, we still don't know. We have to run our tests to give you a definitive answer, but you normally can't cheat physics, and we expect the iPhone 16e to win this round.

In terms of charging, things are stuck in the past on most Apple devices, and the iPhone 16e is no exception. It supports 20W wired charging and 7.5W Qi wireless charging (no MagSafe). The iPhone 12 is better if you charge wirelessly because it supports 15W MagSafe charging.

This should be straightforward enough, even without all the tests and benchmarks. The iPhone 12 can survive another year or two, but if you're looking to upgrade, the iPhone 16e is a great affordable choice. Now you don't need to dish out $799 for the vanilla iPhone 16 if you don't care about ultra-wide cameras or MagSafe charging, and if you do, we think you'd be better off just getting the Pro version.

Alternatively, you can hold on to your iPhone 12 for another year and wait for the iPhone 17 series, as there are some exciting changes coming, but really, the features-per-dollar situation of the iPhone 16e is pretty good. And it will support all Apple Intelligence magic tricks to come, so there's that as well.

We will update this comparison with our final verdict once we finish the review of the iPhone 16e.