Apple kills the home button with the new iPhone 16e
Condolences to the final holdouts for Apple's iconic home button. The tech 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.
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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.
Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).
