“The iPhone X was an incredible phone, and will go down in history as bringing the future into the present, just as the iPhone 4 did,” Stephen Hackett writes for 512 Pixels. “The XS and XS Max follow very closely in the X’s steps, with the latter bringing something new to the table.”
“The XS Max is an incredible iPhone. The large OLED screen is gorgeous, the speakers are loud and the cameras are great, as long as you turn off Smart HDR. While parts of the iPhone interface feel a little silly on a screen so large, for the most part, I’ve enjoyed the phone,” Hackett writes. “Of course, the XS and XS Max aren’t the whole story for this generation of iPhones. No, there is another. The iPhone XR.”
“Last week, I picked up a blue iPhone XR, restored it from my iCloud backup and popped my SIM card into it. I wanted to spend some time with it, and see if the trade-offs were worth the smaller price tag,” Hackett writes. “If I have had one surprise over the last week, it is that the XR is as big of a phone as I want to carry… The lack of the zoom lens is a bummer if you have gotten used to it, but consumers trading in their old iPhone 6S or 7 are never going to know what they are missing.”
“That’s the real story here. The XR is for people upgrading from old phones, not those of us who bought the iPhone X a year ago. It gets customers into a modern, Face ID-equipped iPhone for $250 less than the XS, and a shocking $350 less than the XS Max,” Hackett writes. “After using the XR, I’m not sure that extra money is actually worth it.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This is a good review for iPhone XR. Those of us who’ve grown accustomed to having a dual-camera system, OLED display, and premium materials like stainless steel would have a difficult time stepping down to the iPhone XR, but for the vast majority of iPhone users (and fake iPhone settlers), the iPhone XR will be a mighty step up at a more accessible price.
Have seen an XR and XS friends have and my SE still does everything I need in a phone that actually fits in my hand and in my pocket. I have iPads for the rest of that stuff.
But I’m always disappointed when I turn the phone sideways with the Safari browser and I don’t get a fuller view as I do with iPhone and up. I need to use a different browser like Puffin, plus the small size is just too small for me these days. iPhone SE is size efficient for some, shrunken ‘ell for others. iPads too big for anywhere anytime usage, bigger iPhones are the super solution.
To each their own.
Agreed. As one always having the latest and greatest my iPhone 6 plus with current OS did the trick for a long time. But it When apple gave me $200 for trade in how could I say no? Payments are very doable over 2 years. First time I’ve ever had payments on my iphone upgrade. Nothing lasts forever.
MDN talking out its ass
“Apple’s iPhone XR is for people upgrading from old phones, not for iPhone X owners”
So is the XS only for people upgrading from an X or people that don’t have an iPhone?
The XR is pushed at people who aren’t stupid enough to pay 1K for a phone. Sales are a problem because people want the best iPhone (XS) not a make do with mediocre XR, which still costs more than the top end best iPhones they bought last time round.
“premium materials like stainless steel”
Stainless steel is not a premium material – you can get a cheapo kitchen sink that you could craft hundreds of iPhones from for about £36
https://www.diy.com/departments/turing-1-bowl-stainless-steel-sink-drainer/1327524_BQ.prd
To make matters worse the XR is too big and has too many wanky colours. Even the black front on the white version is lazy.
Sadly you are proof that there is a “dumb Steve”. Sad.
Unfortunately for Apple, most of the world’s consumers are choosing Android smartphones because they cost a lot less than iPhones. It’s hard to sell premium smartphones to people who either can’t afford them or who are simply willing to settle for lower-quality products.
I’m sure curious about where Apple’s iPhone business is going from here. It’s not going to get any better from here on as the Chinese manufacturers are doubling down on ruining iPhone sales. There are at least a dozen Chinese smartphone companies fighting for market share. I’m not sure how they manage to survive but they’re gradually squeezing Apple out of the Chinese smartphone market.
Apple had better find a backup business quite soon or Apple is done for as the iPhone Company.
Wow… so much wrong in one post. Bzzzzzzzt – wrong and wronged.
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