Apple has launched the latest edition of its lower-cost iPhone line and a faster iPad Air, as it prepares more hardware announcements this week.

The iPhone 17e, arriving a year after the previous iteration, comes in black, white and pink, and includes a larger 256GB cache of storage than its predecessor, while having the same starting price of $599 (£447).

Like the 16e, the new phone has a 6.1-inch display that’s slightly smaller than the 6.3-inch screen of the iPhone 17, which starts at $799.

The new device now features tougher glass that’s on par with the iPhone 17 front panel.

Apple said the 17e screen features a lower refresh rate than the 17, meaning graphics aren’t as smooth, and it doesn’t use Apple’s Dynamic Island interface.

It includes Apple’s new C1X in-house modem, which the company says is twice as fast as the old one, a 48-megapixel camera, and MagSafe wireless charging with Qi2 support for charging up to 15 W.

The 17e includes the A19 chip, the same as the iPhone 17.

The new iPad Air moves the tablet to Apple’s M4 processor, making it 30 percent faster, Apple said. It uses the C1X modem, N1 wireless chip and supports Wi-Fi 7.

Apple’s other hardware announcements this week are expected to include its first-ever entry-level MacBook, said to use an iPhone-grade chip, which is intended to compete with low-cost devices such as Chromebooks.