Well, the iPhone XS and XS Max have come and gone(review). Same with the Apple Watch Series 4 (review).
We’ve even had them in our hands for a month (1 month check-ins iPhone, Apple Watch). It’s time to turn our attention to the next announced device: the iPhone XR.
I haven’t had a chance to go hands-on with the XR yet, but I can already tell that this is going to be an amazing phone for Apple. I’m going to try to go into the Apple Store on launch day (I know, it’s risky) to get my hands on with them. I’m also that I can fully use one of the phones down the line, but right now you don’t seem to be able to get a contract/sim free phone, and since I just upgraded to the iPhone XS Max and since I love it as much as I do, I don’t really want to part with it right now anyway.
Still, I wanted to touch on the iPhone XR and why I think it’s going to be an amazing device.
Price
Of the many things the XR has going for it is the price. The 64GB model will retail for $750, and while that’s not cheap (it’s still more expensive than last years model) it is a good deal cheaper than the iPhone X, XS, and XS Max.
So why is the price a good thing?
The insides of this phone are really just the same as the insides of the XS and MX phones this year. While the camera is a little different (more on that later), and the screen is different, for the most part, you are getting the brain and shooter of the more expensive camera.
Sure, Apple had to make trade-offs to get the price this low, but you are getting today’s phone at a slightly higher price than you would be if you had bought the iPhone X.
And really, by comparing this phone to the higher end XS phones, Apple has done an amazing job of making us feel like this phone is actually cheaper.
Sure, I want Apple to start lowering the price of the phones. I don’t like paying $1200 for a phone that I’m going to use (I actually only spend half of that since I’m on an upgrade program). I was really hoping Apple would work on lowering the price of all the phones this year, but they didn’t.
So part of me also hopes that this phone sells amazingly and hopefully it will lower the price down the road.
Still, $750 compared to the $1200 price for the mid-range XS Max is a great value.
Internals
As I mentioned, for the most part, the XR has the same internals as the XS phones.
These new phones fly, and I don’t see why the XR will be any different since it is the exact same chip. The A12 fusion chip still has the same number of cores and the next generation neural network chip. In my opinion, it is that Neural network chip that has really boosted the performance. This is the chip that is helping to learn about you as you use your phone (instead of shipping your data off through the internet to ad companies). It will learn your routines that you do and try to help you become more efficient at them. It is also the same chip that helps with the image processing when you’re taking pictures.
Apple keeps pushing the chips in their system. They are so far ahead of the rest of the field its not even a close.
Putting this chip in a phone that will hit a mass-market appeal is mind boggling just because of how good it really is. There was a report today that Apple could be making the chips for its desktop machines by 2020, and I wouldn’t doubt it at all.
Camera
While the iPhone XR will only have the single lens camera, that camera is the same wide angle lens that’s on the iPhone XS.
Having lived with the Max as my main phone for a week now, I am continually impressed by the quality of the pictures it takes. The changes that Apple made to the hardware and software has boosted the quality of photos that you take in a way that’s hard to explain. The quality, color, and detail of the photos just keep improving.
But buying the XR (with it’s one camera lens) you’d think that you’d be missing out on some of the features of those two lens systems. You’d be partially right.
While the XR will be able to digitally zoom in when taking a picture, it will not be able to zoom in as far and maintain the quality. Digital zoom does not hold up. If you currently have two lens system iPhone, you know that the second lens (the telephoto) helps you zoom in and keep up the quality of the picture since the focal length is further than the wide angle lens. You can get up to 10x zoom with that telephone lens. So if you find that you use that camera often, you might steer away from the XR.
But the other thing you’d think you might miss out on is the portrait mode photo, and you’d be wrong. When Apple announced the two system camera, it did some smart stuff behind the scene so that you could use both camera lenses to create a blur effect in the background of photos. Apple upgraded the software on the XR to allow you to still take those same type of pictures. You can still take portrait mode photos, and the neural network chip will help deteremine what can be blurred and what shouldn’t.
Not only can you still take portrait mode photos, but you’ll be able to adjust the blur just like on the iPhone XS and Max. With iOS 12.1 (which I’d imagine will come out before the launch of the XR) you can adjust the blur while taking the photo as well, or edit it after the fact if you find you’d like to change that blur.
FaceID
On the other side of the camera is the FaceID system. It’s the same system as on the iPhone X (the first of its kind) and the XS (which was improved by software). FaceID will allow you to use your face as your passcode into your phone, for passwords inside your phone, and to pay for things through Apple Pay.
I don’t want to say the system is perfect it, but I really like the system. It makes using the phone so much easier. You don’t have to stop and press your thumb or passcodes in anymore. If your phone needs a password, it will scan your face and let you into your system.
It also will allow you to take portrait mode selfies, which a lot of people will like.
And it will bring a herd of people to Apple’s popular Animoji and Memoji. With the FaceID sensor, you can overlay an animal or an emoji-like character over your face to send as a video or picture in text messages, or you put on your face during a FaceTime call.
But what about that screen?
Many of the tech-savvy have already panned the phone because of the screen, and that’s a shame.
Apple has said that this is the best LCD phone they have ever made, and many of the bloggers and writers that have gotten their hands on the phone say that could be true.
The probably many tech-savvy people are having with the phone is the pixels per inch (PPI). While the iPhone XS and Max have a PPI of 458 the XR only has a PPI of 326. This means that there are not as many dots of color on the screen. Not only that, but the actual resolution of the phone is lower than many new high-end phones.
This is all true, but these people that are complaining are the elite.
I haven’t had my hands on one yet, so I can’t really say anything about it. I don’t think that this is really a deal breaker. Having more PPI on a screen is great, it makes the colors pop, it allows for more detail, but really this screen isn’t a slouch either. Plus the screen goes from edge to edge.
I don’t want anyone to panic and rethink buying one of these phones because they read this. But I don’t want anyone shocked or surprised that the screen is different.
other little things
Again, until I can get my hands on one of these some of this will be hard to know for sure.
One thing many people are worried about is the size of the phone. The screen size on this device is between the XS (5.8 inches) and XS Max (6.5 inches) at 6.1 inches. Size in the hand should be somewhere between the two devices. After using the Max for a month, it is a big phone, but it doesn’t feel so big in the hands to me now.
The battery on the XR is the standout between all the three phones announced at the Apple Event. The XR will supposedly run for longer than the iPhone XS Max. I’m getting all-day battery life on the Max as well, with heavy twitter use.
This phone also comes in colors! It’s been so long since we had some fun colors in the line-up (the 5c) so it’s nice to see a phone with good technology getting some fun colors. Personally, and one of the most commented things about the colors during the event was the two-tone shades on the phones. The back and the bands look different on some of the phones (the yellow, I’m looking at you). This is one of the things I’m really looking forward to seeing in person.
You’ll still get wireless charging on these phones if you want (and I recommend because it’s better than dealing with wires at night and in the morning.
Are you looking forward to the release of the iPhone XR? What color are you thinking about getting? How much storage?
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