India, March 2 -- Right on cue, exactly a year later, Apple has refreshed its most affordable iPhone. The iPhone 17e succeeds last year's iPhone 16e, maintaining a certain degree of continuity while incorporating changes where a generational refresh was required. Key changes to the iPhone 17e are the A19 chip, which keeps it on par with the iPhone 17, an upgrade to the C1X cellular modem (this is important, because the iPhone 16e introduced the C1 modem, Apple's first in-house cellular modem), an improved 48-megapixel Fusion Camera and what the tech giant insists is a more scratch-resistant display.

In India, Apple has priced the iPhone 17e at Rs.64,900 for the 256GB variant, and Rs.84,900 for the 512GB storage. This is a neat step-up at...