This week Apple introduced three new iPhones: the iPhone XS, a successor to the iPhone X; the iPhone XS Max, the new plus-sized version of the iPhone XS; and the new iPhone XR. The iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max are, for the most part, identical devices except for their screen size.
But the iPhone XR is different. Its size feels between the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max, but its the entry level iPhone. Here we break down the differences between the new iPhone XS series and the iPhone XR series.
iPhone XS vs iPhone XR: Specs
Here’s the specs for the iPhone XS:
- Display: 5.8-inch OLED display with a 2436x1125-pixel resolution at 458ppi (XS) or 6.5-inch OLED display with a 2688x1242-pixel resolution at 458ppi (XS Max)
- Dimensions: 143.6mm x 70.9mm x 7.7mm (XS) or 150.9mm x 75.7mm x 8.3mm (XS Max)
- Weight: 177 grams (XS) or 194 grams (XS Max)
- Storage: 64, 256, or 512GB
- Processors: A12 Bionic
- Front camera: 7 MP photos and 1080p HD video.
- Rear camera: Dual lens 12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras, Dual optical image stabilisation, Optical zoom, 4K video
- Battery: Up to 12.5 hours battery life mixed usage (XS) or Up to 13.5 hours battery life mixed usage (XS Max)
- Other: Face ID, NFC, Wireless charging, 3D Touch.
- Color options: Silver, Space Gray, and Gold
And here’s the specs for the iPhone XR:
- Display: 6.1-inch LCD Liquid Retina display with a 2436x1125-pixel resolution at 458ppi
- Dimensions: 150.9mm x 75.7mm x 8.3mm
- Weight: 194 grams
- Storage: 64, 128, or 256GB
- Processors: A12 Bionic
- Front camera: 7 MP photos and 1080p HD video.
- Rear camera: Single lens 12MP wide-angle camera, optical image stabilisation. 4K video.
- Battery: Up to 13.5 hours battery life mixed usage.
- Other: Face ID, NFC, Wireless charging; Splash, Water and Dust Resistant
- Color options: Yellow, White, Coral, Black, Blue, and Product Red
iPhone XS vs iPhone XR: Display & Design
The immediate differences between the two phone series are the display and design. The XS series is made of stainless steel and glass, while the XR series is made of aluminum and glass. Obviously, stainless steel is the better materiel.
As for display, all three phones differ in size. But why does the cheaper XR have a bigger display at 6.1in than the iPhone XS at 5.8in? Apple obviously wanted a large-displayed entry-level iPhone, but it’s kept the cost down of the XR’s larger display by keeping it an LCD display. The XS series features OLED displays.
OLED displays will give you much more vibrant colors and deeper blacks than LCD displays. Case in point the display in the XS series has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, while the display in the XR series has only a 1400:1 contrast ratio.
Another display point the XR lacks is 3D Touch. Again, Apple eliminated it here to keep the cost of the XR down.
iPhone XS vs iPhone XR: Camera
What interesting is Apple uses the exact same front facing camera in both the XS and XR series. All three models feature the same 7MP TrueDepth camera system with Face ID. There is literally no difference between the XS and XR series when it comes to the front camera.
But things are radically different when it comes to the real camera. The XS series features a dual lens 12MP system with wide-angle and telephoto cameras, dual optical image stabilisation, 2x optical zoom, and 4K video recording.
On the other hand the rear camera system on the XR is only a single-lens 12MP wide angle camera. It does feature optical image stabilisation and 4K video recording, as with the XS series, but lacks the 2x optical zoom.
iPhone XS vs iPhone XR: CPU, Battery, and Storage
As far s the cPU is concerned, all three models are identical. All feature the A12 Bionic chipset. It’s a 7nm chip with 6 cores. The CPU is 15% faster and 40% more energy efficient than the previous A11. The GPU now has 4 cores and is 50% faster. Finally, the Neural engine now has 8 cores for machine learning and is almost almost 10 x faster. Apps launch 30% faster on the Max and Machine Learning runs nine times faster on 1/10th the energy. The A12 Bionic absolutely flies.
Battery life is also almost identical between the three phones. Both the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR will get 13.5 hours of mixed usage off a single charge with the iPhone XS getting 12.5. You can thank the physically larger batteries in the former two for that extra hour.
And as for storage, the XS series offers more: 64, 256, or 512GB compared to the XR series 64, 128, or 256GB options.
iPhone XS vs iPhone XR: Cost & Verdict
Normally it’s easy to choose Apple’s costliest and most advanced device as the winner–that is, which one you should buy. But honestly, it’s not that clear cut this year. If you don’t need a dual lens camera system (found in the XS), the XR might be the best choice.
Sure, the XR doesn’t have the OLED display, but it’s not like the LCD display is shoddy. It’ll look fine if that’s what you are used to looking at. Also, from a processing power perspective, the XR and XS series are identical, making it harder to fork out that extra dough for the XS if you don’t need the better camera and the best display tech.
The iPhone XR will be available in late October and cost £749 (64GB), £799 (128GB), or £899 (256GB). The iPhone XS Max will be available on September 21 and cost £1099 (64GB), £1249 (256GB), or £1449 (512GB). And the iPhone XS will be available on September 21 and cost £999 (64GB), £1149 (256GB), or £1349 (512GB).
