The worst thing about the iPhone 17e? It’s not pink enough

My initial reaction to the iPhone 17e launch was cautiously positive. They added MagSafe and a faster chip, I noted, exactly as expected. But they also doubled the starting storage at the same price, made the screen more scratch-resistant, and added a much-needed third color option.

My optimism didn’t last long, however. The 17e version of MagSafe is capped at 15W, compared to 22W for the iPhone 16 and 25W for the iPhone 17. This faster chip, as you might expect, is a bundled version of the A19 that has one fewer GPU core than the chip in the iPhone 17. And what about the new color? That’s the real insult.

Important background: I am a big fan, one might even say evangelist, of pink technology. In fall 2024, I passionately advocated for the inclusion of pink and other bright colors on professional devices, and the following month, I praised the hot pink of the iPhone 16 Plus, which put the faint pink blush of its predecessor firmly in shadow.

So I was excited to read that the iPhone 17e is now available in soft pink. Then I saw it, and well, I think the word “Soft” understates how not rosy the iPhone 17e looks. I might suggest another name, such as Barely Pink or Not Identifiably Pink, or Off-White.

To give an idea of ​​the hue variation of Apple’s supposedly pink devices, look at the iPhone 15 Plus (in pink) and the iPhone 16 Plus (also in pink; nice simple names, those) sitting side by side in my chair. You’ll notice that the 15 Plus appears almost white, although there is a noticeable pinkish tint if you squint. While the 16 Plus is a real and unmistakable pink, bold and unapologetic.

David Price / Foundry

It’s worth noting that real-world photos like this tend to underestimate the vibrancy of the phone’s colors, and the 15 Plus doesn’t look as washed out in person. But for comparison purposes, this effectively illustrates how much less bang for our buck we got in the 15 Series generation.

Now let’s compare the 15 Plus and 16 Plus to the new iPhone 17e, using Apple’s official artwork. Never forget what they took from you.

Apple

The 17th, as you can clearly see, doesn’t just revert to the underpowered pink of the iPhone 15 Plus; it manages to be equal less pink. One might even suspect that Apple is deliberately using a half-hearted color finish to encourage upselling towards a more expensive handset, just as last year’s black/white options were one of the 16th’s many small disappointments. The iPhone 17 doesn’t offer any pink at all, but its sage finish is quite nice in a more understated way, and is at least identifiably green.

One last illustration, to add some old pink iPhones.

Apple

We can see that the glorious iPhone 16 generation was somehow unique for Apple. Even the iPhone XR doesn’t have hot pink to go with its bright blue, yellow, and coral. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 13 cannot be described as hot pink in any way. But they were still a bit pinker than the iPhone 17e. And I refuse to call that progress.