Apple’s “one more thing" at today’s keynote was a budget-friendly iPhone X R which basically seems to take the iPhone X but … makes it cheaper. For example, instead of an OLED display it has an LCD, the “Liquid Retina Display," specifically. It’s a 6.1" screen at 1792×828 and 326ppi, which similar to the iPhone X has a larger overall screen than the iPhone 8 Plus. Its aluminum case comes in white, black, blue, coral, yellow, and Product Red. The iPhone X R is also waterproof like the iPhone X, IP67 certified, specifically.
Curiously enough, the iPhone X R also has the A12 bionic chip, but lacks 3D touch, instead opting for “haptic touch" which is supposed to work a lot like the MacBook Pro trackpad. The camera is a bit less exciting than the iPhone X S, as it only has the wide angle lens which restricts some of the fancy camera magic the X S can do which are now done using software instead of the two physical cameras. Since it has the A12 processor, the X R also gains faster Face ID capabilities and with the same front sensor bar, you’ve got all the same selfie power of the iPhone X S.
Battery life is also improved, offering another hour and a half of life over the iPhone 8 Plus. The iPhone X R comes in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB starting at $749. You can order it on October 19th, and it’ll ship on October 26th.
If I were upgrading my 8 (and I don't think I am), I think I would go for the R. The Xs price is excessive.
I'm kind of surprised there's not a bigger difference between the two. I don't think most people will care about aluminum vs stainless or OLED vs LCD making the primary differentiator the camera? Is that worth a few hundred more dollars? I kind of doubt it.
It's higher resolution too, but anything past iphone4 level "retina" pixel per inch is likely wasted on me.
Will you get them all? For "research?"
In a parallel universe where toucharcade has money, sure :P
I was hoping the new "low end" phone would have a headphone jack. No suck luck.
Definitely picking up the blue XR. Smaller than my 8+ but bigger screen? Hell yes. And way cheaper than the XS with most of the same guts.
The only thing I'll really miss is 3D Touch. I'm bummed that apparently never caught on with the general public.