【1984 Archives】

Condolences to the final holdouts for Apple's iconic home button. 984 Archivestech giant announced a new iPhone on Wednesday, the iPhone 16e, and with it comes the apparent demise of the home button.

As Mashable's Stan Schroeder wrote, the announcement "likely means the iPhone SE, which was widely expected for today, has been retired in favor of the iPhone 16e" — that shift, Schroeder noted, would be "a pretty huge deal." One reason why? The newly announced 16e, unlike the iPhone SE, does not have the home button.

Apple's cheaper SE line was the last bastion of home button aficionados. The 16e, while also a relatively budget option, falls in line with the rest of Apple's iPhone lineup by swapping out the button for a full-screen experience.

The new iPhone 16e promises a large display, excellent battery life, and the ability to use Apple Intelligence, among other features.

All those features aside, folks online have already begun paying tribute to the deceased home button.

• Apple iPhone 16e is the new affordable Apple phone
• Apple's $599 iPhone 16e is now available for preorder
• Apple Store is down ahead of new iPhone launch
• iPhone SE 4 could get an iPhone 16 rebrand when announced this week, report suggests
• Apple Maps may get paid placements as part of new ad strategy

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It's the end of an Apple era. But, honestly, Face ID works well enough that it should be a pretty smooth transition for just about everyone.

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