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iPhone XR Is the XR going to be the best LCD option?

T

tonybarnaby

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Dec 3, 2017
2,385
1,741
$569 7+
$699 8+
$749 XR

I returned my max Monday due to horrible headaches. I got another 8+ for $699. I needed a phone asap or i might have picked up an XR. No doubt the XR has newer internals and probably will have the best battery life on any iphone, but it does have some things lacking that the older plus phones have.

If someone is sensitive to pwm like many of us, is the XR the slam dunk go-to lcd model? Is 828p worth it for the a12 and battery life when you lose resolution, 3d touch, dual camera and can save a few bucks? The 7+ is cheap as hell for what you get. 8+ is only $50 cheaper than an xr, so that's closer.
 
EugW

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,303
12,057
Best LCD is still going to be 7+ or 8+. The 7+ is also a great performer on iOS 12. It also comes with 3 GB RAM. Great bang for the buck.
 
NJHitmen

NJHitmen

macrumors 6502
Oct 8, 2010
343
294
serialiphoneuser said:
It's got a worse LCD that iPhone 8 Plus.
Click to expand...

EugW said:
Best LCD is still going to be 7+ or 8+.
Click to expand...

I don't see how you can know that for sure. I'm reserving judgment until I actually see an XR for myself, and/or read some detailed reviews. The only thing we know with certainty is that pixel density is higher on the + models. But there's more to display quality than ppi. Yes, for all I know, "Liquid Retina" is purely Apple marketing-speak for a lesser 7+/8+ display - but it's possible they've engineered some actual improvements. They did describe the XR's display as their best iPhone LCD ever. We'll just have to wait to see what that actually means.
 
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Caspavio

Caspavio

macrumors regular
Apr 18, 2018
241
110
i agree with NJhitmen.

for day to day use, i didnt notice any difference between an iphone 7 to and iphone 7+, meaning that the higher ppi was not very impactful. instead, other factors like color rendering, contrast is probably going to affect how the screen look, not sure if apple made any improvement in these areas.
 
EugW

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,303
12,057
NJHitmen said:
I don't see how you can know that for sure. I'm reserving judgment until I actually see an XR for myself, and/or read some detailed reviews. The only thing we know with certainty is that pixel density is higher on the + models. But there's more to display quality than ppi. Yes, for all I know, "Liquid Retina" is purely Apple marketing-speak for a lesser 7+/8+ display - but it's possible they've engineered some actual improvements. They did describe the XR's display as their best iPhone LCD ever. We'll just have to wait to see what that actually means.
Click to expand...
You can have great features in an LCD screen, but ultimately the small text quality is limited by the pixel density. This rings doubly true for Chinese characters for example.

Caspavio said:
for day to day use, i didnt notice any difference between an iphone 7 to and iphone 7+, meaning that the higher ppi was not very impactful. instead, other factors like color rendering, contrast is probably going to affect how the screen look, not sure if apple made any improvement in these areas.
Click to expand...
I notice a difference in text quality between the 7+ and 7 even for day to day use. The 7 is decent, but the 7+ is better, even at say 11-12 inches. (I have a 7+ and my wife has the 6s.) Surfing is the number one activity I do on my iPhone, so text quality is important to me.

The iPad Pro is held up as a great example of excellent quality LCDs. I agree. For its purpose, it is excellent. However, if you hold an iPad Pro at a distance I hold an iPhone, the iPad Pro's screen just wouldn't cut it on an iPhone. It would be considered a lower end screen for phones precisely because of the pixel density, despite all its other advantages. It's easier to notice the loss in detail on the iPad Pro's screen if you hold it at iPhone viewing distances.

BTW, I say this as someone who will be ordering an XR for the wife. She doesn't notice the difference, probably because I haven't pointed it out to her. I'll try to keep it that way, or else her tastes in screens might become more expensive. ;)
 
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B

bigpoppamac31

macrumors 68020
Aug 16, 2007
2,452
434
Canada
Why is everyone comparing the XR to the old “plus” models? I compare it to the standard 6-8 models which have the same ppi as the XR. The latter just has a bigger screen size. I can’t see myself noticing the difference except for more screen space as it’s 4.7” vs 6.1”.
 
JPack

JPack

macrumors G5
Mar 27, 2017
12,932
24,558
bigpoppamac31 said:
Why is everyone comparing the XR to the old “plus” models? I compare it to the standard 6-8 models which have the same ppi as the XR. The latter just has a bigger screen size. I can’t see myself noticing the difference except for more screen space as it’s 4.7” vs 6.1”.
Click to expand...

Many people bought the Plus for the larger display and battery life.

The XR exceeds the Plus in terms of display area and battery life.
 
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EugW

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,303
12,057
apolloa said:
I’ll just leave this.....


The guy point out how stupid it is to claim the XR is rubbish due to its PPI..
Click to expand...
I watched about half the video and then gave up. His argument is fundamentally flawed, basically saying that Samsung shipping a 1440p screen and running it at 1080p is similar to Apple shipping a lower ppi screen.

That makes no sense at all.
 
4

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,493
tonybarnaby said:
I like the potential battery life, a12 and screen size. Im unsure on the rest.
Click to expand...

In addition, it still includes Wirelsss charging, True Tone and the same water IP67 Water resistant rating as the 2017 X/iPhone 8. Its a solid buy. If I didn’t Purchase XS Max, the XR would be secondary.
 
N

nordique

macrumors 68000
Oct 12, 2014
1,985
1,603
tonybarnaby said:
$569 7+
$699 8+
$749 XR

I returned my max Monday due to horrible headaches. I got another 8+ for $699. I needed a phone asap or i might have picked up an XR. No doubt the XR has newer internals and probably will have the best battery life on any iphone, but it does have some things lacking that the older plus phones have.

If someone is sensitive to pwm like many of us, is the XR the slam dunk go-to lcd model? Is 828p worth it for the a12 and battery life when you lose resolution, 3d touch, dual camera and can save a few bucks? The 7+ is cheap as hell for what you get. 8+ is only $50 cheaper than an xr, so that's closer.
Click to expand...

Well, the display will not be as crisp as the Plus models, but we should wait to have it in our hands before we determine how much worse it is

Personally, I think it will be noticeable to those who are tuned to the Plus model display, but for most people it will be good enough
 
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EugW

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
14,303
12,057
apolloa said:
I found his comments perfectly true. I’d of thought you’d agree with his seeing as you’ve spent most of your time defending the XR screen?
Click to expand...
I defend it from people who criticize it unfairly. But just because I defend it doesn't mean I'll use faulty logic to support it.

nordique said:
Well, the display will not be as crisp as the Plus models, but we should wait to have it in our hands before we determine how much worse it is

Personally, I think it will be noticeable to those who are tuned to the Plus model display, but for most people it will be good enough
Click to expand...
That's exactly how I feel.
 
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N

nordique

macrumors 68000
Oct 12, 2014
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EugW said:
I defend it from people who criticize it unfairly. But just because I defend it doesn't I'll use faulty logic to support it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it is getting too much unfair criticism...the product isn't even out yet! It's a new LCD part, that is running into manufacturing issues because it's a specialized LCD. The quality might be worse, it might be better, it might be the same quality as before...but it's still something we can't praise or criticize until we actually have it in hand

The way some people are talking about the display, one would think every iPhone 7 has suddenly become a blurry mess
 
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iExpLiziT

iExpLiziT

macrumors member
Sep 18, 2018
34
21
Houston, Texas
apolloa said:
I found his comments perfectly true. I’d of thought you’d agree with his seeing as you’ve spent most of your time defending the XR screen?
Click to expand...

Upscaling a 1080p video to a 1440p screen is NOT the same as Apple Shipping a screen with a lower PPI. The video is Extremely flawed in that regard. The battery saving on the XR is Valid though.
 
A

apolloa

Suspended
Oct 21, 2008
12,318
7,802
Time, because it rules EVERYTHING!
nordique said:
Yeah, it is getting too much unfair criticism...the product isn't even out yet! It's a new LCD part, that is running into manufacturing issues because it's a specialized LCD. The quality might be worse, it might be better, it might be the same quality as before...but it's still something we can't praise or criticize until we actually have it in hand

The way some people are talking about the display, one would think every iPhone 7 has suddenly become a blurry mess
Click to expand...

And every iPhone 6, 6S and 8... hmm and yet the 8 was the best selling smartphone last year. Yeah I think if was that bad it wouldn’t have sold that well, maybe it’s just people trying to defend and justify the XS and XS Max I think who slate the XR? Until people actually use it you can’t just use a spec sheet as MKBHD says..

Here’s someone who’s actually seen the XR in person, play it from the 2:00 mark..

 
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