Hands on with Apple’s $749 iPhone XR

At Apple’s big event on Wednesday, the company rebooted its iPhone lineup with three new devices. There’s the more premium 5.8-inch iPhone XS and even larger 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max. 

And then there’s the 6.1-inch iPhone XR — arguably the most interesting new iPhone announced. Starting at $749, it’s $150 cheaper than the iPhone XS, which starts at $999. It also comes in six fun colors. 

I’ve only had a couple of minutes to play with the iPhone XR and my gut’s already telling me it’s gonna be a hit.

Many people are going to draw parallels between the iPhone XR and the iPhone 5C. It’s the new “cheap” iPhone. 

The similarities really end at the lower price and different colors. Whereas the IPhone 5C was essentially a rebadged iPhone 5, the iPhone XR still has many of the same features as the XS and XS Max.

The iPhone XR looks like its more premium siblings, but doesn’t feel cheap. It’s still got the same glass front and back, the same powerful A12 Bionic processor, and the same improved primary 12-megapixel camera and 7-megapixel selfie camera.

It’s also got the same notch and Face ID recognition system. The 6.1-inch “Liquid Retina” display isn’t quite as stunning as the OLED displays on the XS and XS Max, but you’d be hard-pressed to see the difference. Honestly, iPhone screens might have peaked years ago.

One thing you may notice is the thicker bezel around the display. It’s fabulous that the screen runs “edge-to-edge” and doesn’t have a thicker “chin” bezel below the screen like most Android copycats, but the thicker bezel running all around the screen may bother you. I suspect it really won’t matter to most people. 

The iPhone XR also sports an aluminum frame instead of the literally more polished and durable surgical steel on the X, XS, and XS Max. Not sure what Apple did, but the XR feels lighter than the 8 Plus.

Noticeably impressive is the camera. It’s got just a single rear camera (there’s no 2x telephoto lens), but it’s still stunning. The Steve Jobs Theater hands-on area was relatively well-lit, so it’s hard to say how well the camera performs IRL, but that adjustable bokeh effect for portrait photos looks sick. Not so great: the even larger camera bump. The thing is massive.

A couple of minutes is obviously not enough time to get to know the iPhone XR, but at first blush, it looks like a winner. The colors will suck you right in. I’d totally buy the yellow one.