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iPhone XR If the iPhone XR is the “cheaper” iPhone X many customers have wanted, why are sales reportedly slow

Hieveryone

Hieveryone

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 11, 2014
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USA
I would like to start a discussion.

I think when the iPhone X came out a lot of people said it’s too much money.

A lot of people said they’d like to see a “cheaper” iPhone X.

Well isn’t the iPhone XR just that?

To the average man, it looks like an iPhone X, but is priced cheaper.

What’s the “catch”?

Well, they decided to take out stuff most people might not notice or miss.

For example, a beautiful lcd screen might be just fine rather than OLED.

That saves costs.

Another example is put an extraordinary camera, but make it a single lens. Most people taking pictures will likely still love their photos.

Another feature, 3D touch, which is underused by many, just re-implement it.

I mean on every front I would think the XR would be that “cheaper” iPhone X customers have been wanting.

I just don’t understand why analysts are saying sales are slow.

Please discuss.
 
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Because someone made a video that said the screen was the same as what’s in the iPhone 4, and it made people then look at the screens they’ve been using for the past 8 years and suddenly decide they’re garbage, fuzzy and blurry hence no sale.

Others, like me, made my own mind up and bought an XR and love it. :)
 
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OneMike said:
Most people don’t want a cheaper iPhone X. They want the “top of the line” iPhone to cost less.
Click to expand...

EXACTLY.

I was thinking the same thing.

It’s not that people wanted a cheaper iPhone X.

They wanted the iPhone X to be cheaper.

ZING!
 
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I could never not purchase the top of the line iPhone. Hence my Xs.

One less Xr right there. However, I did just purchase 3 for the family.

Each use case is different.
 
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Hieveryone said:
EXACTLY.

I was thinking the same thing.

It’s not that people wanted a cheaper iPhone X.

They wanted the iPhone X to be cheaper.

ZING!
Click to expand...

Let me put it like this... I HAVE HAD EVERY iPhone since the 4 and I mean everyone minus the XS only because I got the Max...

My daily driver is now the Xʀ and my Max stares at me daily. I don’t want nor need it. The Xʀ is my perfect iPhone due to BATTERY LIFE and SIZE.

I won’t go back. I love this phone.
 
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The XR offers no real improvement over a three year old iPhone 6S Plus when texting, calling, playing games, listening to music, and watching videos.

When it comes to taking pictures, the iPhone XR’s zoom, both digital and optical, is inferior to the 2 year old 7 Plus model and is $180 more expensive.

Other than cosmetics, the average person has no real reason to abandon their older 6S to 8 iPhone for a XR. If they have a 6 or older, there is no compelling reason no to get an iPhone 7 or 8 for cheaper.
 
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Wide opeN said:
I could never not purchase the top of the line iPhone. Hence my Xs.

One less Xr right there. However, I did just purchase 3 for the family.

Each use case is different.
Click to expand...

I was that person, but then I realized I was an idiot for not buying the phone that suits me best. My main reason for wanting a XS Max was just that, it was “the latest iPhone”. But I don’t think the screen is that much better than the XR’s, and the battery life on the XR really is top notch. Was the better phone for me this year.
[doublepost=1545614639][/doublepost]
jeremiah256 said:
The XR offers no real improvement over a three year old iPhone 6S Plus when texting, calling, playing games, listening to music, and watching videos.

When it comes to taking pictures, the iPhone XR’s zoom, both digital and optical, is inferior to the 2 year old 7 Plus model and is $180 more expensive.

Other than cosmetics, the average person has no real reason to abandon their older 6S to 8 iPhone for a XR. If they have a 6 or older, there is no compelling reason no to get an iPhone 7 or 8 for cheaper.
Click to expand...

Was there a reason for updating your iphone 6 to the 7 two years ago? Or 6S to 8? Or whatever...

I switched from a 7 Plus, and it’s just a better phone all around. I’m satisfied with my purchase. Battery will last for ages. Stereo speakers. Better screen. Way faster processor and graphics. The list goes on.

The real problem is that Apple thought they could get away with releasing a $750 phone and calling it “budget”, when that was the price of the previous flagship. Some people just don’t want to spend that kind of money to get the “inferior” device.
 
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Wide opeN said:
I could never not purchase the top of the line iPhone. Hence my Xs.

One less Xr right there. However, I did just purchase 3 for the family.

Each use case is different.
Click to expand...

Do you think the pricing Apple is asking for the XR and XS is fair and reasonable? Not looking to start anything, just curious.
 
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AppleHaterLover said:
Was there a reason for updating your iphone 6 to the 7 two years ago? Or 6S to 8? Or whatever...

I switched from a 7 Plus, and it’s just a better phone all around.
Click to expand...

Exactly. We're saying the same thing. When you upgraded to the iPhone 6 or 7 years ago, it was all forward progress. Upgrading from a 7 or 8 to a XR means some steps forward (wireless charging, smaller bezels, FaceID) but other steps backwards (lower digital zoom, no optical zoom, no 3D Touch).
 
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jeremiah256 said:
Exactly. We're saying the same thing. When you upgraded to the iPhone 6 or 7 years ago, it was all forward progress. Upgrading from a 7 or 8 to a XR means some steps forward (wireless charging, smaller bezels, FaceID) but other steps backwards (lower digital zoom, no optical zoom, no 3D Touch).
Click to expand...

The overall experience is miles ahead. I was in the “oh no no dual camera” camp and then I realized I never used it anyway. And if I really really absolutely need to take a portrait mode photo of myself, the option’s there... no need to pay for something I won’t use. Also, my 7P would give up on using that secondary camera in case lighting was anything less than perfect.

As for 3D touch I think it’ll be axed from the 2019 iPhone. I never really used it, don’t know anyone that does, and its functions can be replicated by a long press with very little compromise. No need to pay for that as well.

So, for me, those are not quite downgrades. And the upgrades are VERY hefty improvements.
 
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AppleHaterLover said:
The overall experience is miles ahead. I was in the “oh no no dual camera” camp and then I realized I never used it anyway. And if I really really absolutely need to take a portrait mode photo of myself, the option’s there... no need to pay for something I won’t use. Also, my 7P would give up on using that secondary camera in case lighting was anything less than perfect.

As for 3D touch I think it’ll be axed from the 2019 iPhone. I never really used it, don’t know anyone that does, and its functions can be replicated by a long press with very little compromise. No need to pay for that as well.

So, for me, those are not quite downgrades. And the upgrades are VERY hefty improvements.
Click to expand...
I think 3DT is going to available for the foreseeable future. Long press does not equal 3DT by a long shot.

The xr is at an interesting price point. The execution is excellent and if it had 3DT I just may have picked one up.
 
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I7guy said:
I think 3DT is going to available for the foreseeable future. Long press does not equal 3DT by a long shot.

The xr is at an interesting price point. The execution is excellent and if it had 3DT I just may have picked one up.
Click to expand...

That’s interesting - first time I’ve seen 3D touch be a dealbreaker.

I think the issue is that Apple never developed 3D touch, functionality is still the same as it was on the iPhone 6S in 2015. It didn’t catch on, and Apple sort of left it to the side.

And it’s not very intuitive, you have to 3D touch stuff and see if/how it reacts. Not very Apple-like.

On the XR, pretty much all functions that were 3D touch have been replaced by a longer press (all that lock screen and Control Center stuff). And that’s not new, it behaves just the same as if you’d disabled 3D touch on any other iPhone. To me it works just the same. it doesn’t have Peek & Pop and the home screen shortcuts, but I never used them anyway...
 
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AppleHaterLover said:
That’s interesting - first time I’ve seen 3D touch be a dealbreaker.

I think the issue is that Apple never developed 3D touch, functionality is still the same as it was on the iPhone 6S in 2015. It didn’t catch on, and Apple sort of left it to the side.

And it’s not very intuitive, you have to 3D touch stuff and see if/how it reacts. Not very Apple-like.
Click to expand...
I really like my 3DT. Yeah, 3DT hasn't gone anywhere, but it took many years to enhance facetime also. OLED vs LCD is not an issue and two cameras vs one camera was meh. I ended up with the max.
 
AppleHaterLover said:
The overall experience is miles ahead. I was in the “oh no no dual camera” camp and then I realized I never used it anyway. And if I really really absolutely need to take a portrait mode photo of myself, the option’s there... no need to pay for something I won’t use. Also, my 7P would give up on using that secondary camera in case lighting was anything less than perfect.

As for 3D touch I think it’ll be axed from the 2019 iPhone. I never really used it, don’t know anyone that does, and its functions can be replicated by a long press with very little compromise. No need to pay for that as well.

So, for me, those are not quite downgrades. And the upgrades are VERY hefty improvements.
Click to expand...
For your use case. There seems to be evidence that a not insignificant number of others are deciding, fairly or not, that the XR is not miles ahead. Or at least not such an improvement as to spend $750.
 
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jeremiah256 said:
For your use case. There seems to be evidence that a not insignificant number of others are deciding, fairly or not, that the XR is not miles ahead. Or at least not such an improvement as to spend $750.
Click to expand...

The issue with the XR is that people willing to spend $1000 on an iPhone got the iPhone X and are not due for an upgrade this year.

And the iPhone XR crowd is used to paying $649 for the latest model iPhone.

You will see Apple said the iPhone XR is the best-selling one of the three (even though I haven’t seen a single one in the wild yet). So it would be rather a problem of all iPhones not selling so well this year, and not something XR-specific.
 
AppleHaterLover said:
The issue with the XR is that people willing to spend $1000 on an iPhone got the iPhone X and are not due for an upgrade this year.

And the iPhone XR crowd is used to paying $649 for the latest model iPhone.

You will see Apple said the iPhone XR is the best-selling one of the three (even though I haven’t seen a single one in the wild yet). So it would be rather a problem of all iPhones not selling so well this year, and not something XR-specific.
Click to expand...
Visual differences between the X/Xs/Xr in the wild are difficult to ascertain.

We won't know the sales numbers until the next quarterly earnings report. The Xr with a trade-in is a very reasonable price.
 
watchthisspace said:
Do you think the pricing Apple is asking for the XR and XS is fair and reasonable? Not looking to start anything, just curious.
Click to expand...

Well it depends. How much profit are they making?

Like if something costs a company 100 dollars to build and they’re charging 10,000 and that’s maybe hurting sales from their greed maybe it’s better to charge less?
 
Wide opeN said:
Not at all... That's why I'll be keeping this phone for 3 years minimum. I wanted an iPhone with band 71. No home button and wireless charging were bonuses.
Click to expand...

what is a band 71 and how does it improve the iphone? i have the X
 
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