Best iPhone 16e plans in Australia (January 2026)

If the rumours are to be believed, there’s a good chance that Apple will release the budget-friendly sibling of the iPhone 17 line soon – but without confirmation from Apple, the iPhone 16e remains your best bet for a budget-friendly iPhone.

Sitting at AU$999 RRP, but now seemingly available with regular discounts – which can dip as low as AU$799 – buying outright from the likes of JB Hi-Fi or Amazon is a lot easier on your wallet than you'll find with other iPhone models.

Our reviewer called the iPhone 16e a good phone with a pleasing design that fits right in with the previous generation of iPhones, with the same design and display as the iPhone 16, while packing the same A18 chip and with improved battery life.

With that being said, while we recommend pairing the iPhone 16e with one of our best SIM-only plans if you do buy outright, this handset still isn’t the cheapest phone out there.

That makes phone plans from Vodafone or Optus a great option for those who can't quite shell out the total cost upfront. To help narrow it down, we've compared the options from the major telcos to find the two best plans for very different users.

More of the best iPhone plans

• Best iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max plans
• Best iPhone 17 plans
• Best iPhone Air plans
• Best iPhone 16 plans

Best overall iPhone 16e plan

Apple iPhone 16e | Vodafone Small Plan | 60GB data | 24 months | AU$72.28 p/m

The iPhone 16e is a very capable phone that provides an almost flagship-like iPhone experience for a lower price and Vodafone remains the best telco to buy it from. Right now, it's discounting AU$200 off the device and AU$14 off its SIM plans, resulting in a deal that’s hard to pass up. You also get 60GB of data and unlimited national calls and texts for this affordable price.

Minimum total cost: AU$1,029.54 | Cost over 24 months: AU$1,734.72

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Best premium iPhone 16e plan

Apple iPhone 16e | Optus Choice Plus Plan | 200GB data | 24 months | AU$82.28 p/m

The Vodafone Medium Plan is only AU$10 p/m more than the plan above and it's a great option for those who need international calls and texts, or more data with their iPhone 16e. Cutting AU$14 p/m off the price of its medium plan each month, it's by far the cheapest big-data plan you can pair with your new phone.

Minimum total cost: AU$1,039.54 | Cost over 24 months: AU$1,974.72

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Compare iPhone 16e telco plans

Want to know how the plans above stack up against the others? Here’s what you’ll be paying each month for the iPhone 16e with 128GB of storage on a 24-month contract:

Outright iPhone 16e deals

The iPhone 16e saw discounts as early as April 2025, with some retailers offering the handset’s base 128GB model brand new for AU$100 off at AU$899. Right now, Amazon is selling the iPhone 16e for an all-time Australian low price of AU$797, with JB Hi-Fi not too far off at AU$799.

If you thought the phone plans above were cheap, pairing this discounted iPhone 16e with one of our best SIM-only plans can save you even more money in the long run.

You can find all the best offers available in the widget below.

iPhone 16e: Key Information

• AU$999 starting price
• Apple's C1 chip, its first homegrown cellular modem
• Action Button programmable to run Visual Intelligence
• 2-in-1 fusion 48MP camera

While we're still musing about what the 'e' in iPhone 16e actually means, we know practically everything there is to know about the iPhone 16e. In fact, we've even spent significant amount of time with it. You can check out our iPhone 16e review to see our full thoughts, or read on to learn more.

Interested in upgrading to what we were sure was going to be the iPhone SE 4? Here's everything you need to know about the iPhone 16e, how it differs to its iPhone 16 family, and whether it's the right iPhone for you.

The iPhone 16e is basically the last generation's iPhone SE, but its AU$999 price point is much more expensive than the AU$719 launch price of the iPhone SE 2022.

Crucially, the iPhone 16e sports the same 3-nanometer A18 processor boasted by the iPhone 16. It also steals the iPhone 16's Action Button, along with being able to run Visual Intelligence – letting you point the camera at animals, plants, restaurants and even event flyers to get information.

That's about where the similarities between the iPhone 16 family and its affordable sibling end. The price difference is most obvious in the 16e's camera offerings, with just a singular 48MP camera that shoots at 24MP by default (and up to 4K 60fps video), compared to the iPhone 16 dual array of the iPhone 16.

One positive is the 16e's Super Retina XDR display, which is nice to have at an affordable price point. However, for many users, this screen is quickly tarnished by the notch featuring a 12MP TrueDepth camera, as opposed to the Dynamic Island feature introduced by the iPhone 14 Pro. It does, however, enable Face ID.

On top of that, the iPhone 16e boasts a notable technological update – Apple's C1 chip, its first homegrown cellular modem. We don't know much about it, but Apple claims its added power efficiency provides up to 26 hours of video playback on a single charge – four hours more than the iPhone 16.

As for its build, Apple has armoured the display with a ceramic shield and the device itself is made with pace-grade aluminium, and it also offers an IP68 rating that matches the durability of the entire iPhone 16 family.

While it might not be the iPhone SE 4 we thought it was going to be (well, not explicitly), there are a few key things to know about the all-new iPhone 16e.

iPhone 16e: specs comparison