Apple has officially announced the iPhone XR, a new model that features a notched 6.1-inch LCD display and Apple’s Face ID system, similar to last year’s iPhone X. The new iPhone XR is a pretty significant upgrade for Apple, making the iPhone X’s design and features standard across the company’s latest line of phones. Apple is calling the 6.1-inch screen a “Liquid Retina” display, which offers a 1792 x 828 resolution at 326 PPI.
That said, while the XR may look like a larger iPhone XS, there are a few compromises — the frame is aluminum, not stainless steel. There’s IP67 water and dust protection, instead of the improved IP68 rating on the iPhone XS, and the screen is LCD, not OLED. There’s also no 3D Touch — instead Apple is offering a new Haptic touch system, that offers similar feedback to the buttonless MacBook Pro trackpad
The iPhone XR features Apple’s latest A12 Bionic processor, just like the iPhone XS and XS Max — which Apple says offers improved speeds and performance over last year’s model, particularly for Apple’s “Neural Engine” AI processing.
Despite its larger size, the iPhone XR features only a single rear camera, similar to the iPhone 8. The camera is a single 12-megapixel wide-angle camera — the same wide-angle camera as the XS. The single camera does offer portrait mode, combining hardware and software to create the blurred background effect.
As for the front-facing camera, it’s gotten an upgrade to Apple’s TrueDepth system from the iPhone XS, with a 7-megapixel sensor that allows for Face ID as well as features like portrait mode selfies, Animoji, and Memoji. It’s the same improved system as featured on the XS, with faster Face ID unlocking.
On the battery life front, Apple is promising up to an hour and a half longer battery than the iPhone 8 Plus. The XR also will come in a variety of colors, with black, white, blue, coral, yellow, and red options available for the widest selection of chromatic choice since the iPhone 5C.
But while the iPhone XR may feel like a less flashy version of the iPhone XS, it does come at a significant advantage: a much lower price. The iPhone XR starts at $749 for a 64GB model, with 128GB and 256GB models also available. Preorders will start on October 19th for the XR, which will ship a week later on October 26th.
As an Expert in IT & AI, Mickael brings fresh news about Emerging, Wearable Techs, and IT Innovation. He has 12+ years as a Software Engineer in IT and Telecom companies He is now contributor at Athis News.
