Review: Apple iPhone 17e

Would you rather buy a brand-new MacBook Neo—a whole computer—or Apple's cheapest iPhone 17e smartphone for the same amount of cash? It feels weird that a laptop could cost as much as something so small, but I'd argue that smartphones have a bigger job in being more versatile.

It needs to be connected to the internet everywhere you go, and the iPhone 17e even adds Emergency SOS via Satellite for extra peace of mind. It needs good enough cameras to snap pics of everything important—your dog, that sunset, those receipts for your expenses—and a selfie camera that looks good on FaceTimes and Zooms. The battery needs to run all day, it needs GPS for navigating, and NFC for mobile payments. The list goes on.

The iPhone 17e can do all of this fairly well for $599. Heck, truth be told, the ...