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iPhone XR Retrospective: The iPhone XR was a great phone to buy.

Mr. Awesome

Mr. Awesome

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 24, 2016
1,243
2,881
Idaho, USA
Was thinking through the history of the iPhone today and realized how lucky I was to buy a XR. Many people I know bought either a XR or an 11 due to the good value of the device, but due to the limited improvements of the 11 I think the XR was a better buy at launch than the 11. The form factor was still just a year old at the time, as well.

Hindsight truly is 20/20, and it’s interesting to see how many iOS features (Live Text, Portrait Lighting, live Portrait preview, etc.) are being limited to the A12 Bionic and later in the iPhone XR/XS due to its vastly improved Neural Engine compared to the iPhone 8/X’s A11. Yet another argument for the “never buy a first-generation Apple redesign” argument. Even in 2022, four years after the XR/XS launched, the devices are still receiving virtually all new iOS capabilities, and have almost the same feature set as the latest flagship models in everything but camera-related features that are 90% dependent on the physical camera hardware.
 
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While both the XR and 11 are good devices, would strongly disagree that XR was a better buy. The 11 was a significantly better buy at launch due to a number of big improvements:

- $50 price drop
- 4GB RAM
- Ultra wide camera
- Night mode
- 12MP front camera
- U1 chip (for AirTags)

The above features are the same found on iPhone 13 and are almost indistinguishable. The XR lacked all the features above and front an aesthetics perceptive, was quickly outdated (hardly any other phone today has a single rear camera).
 
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JPack said:
While both the XR and 11 are good devices, would strongly disagree that XR was a better buy. The 11 was a significantly better buy at launch due to a number of improvements:

- $50 price drop
- 4GB RAM
- Ultra wide camera
- 12MP front camera
- U1 chip (for AirTags)

The above features are the same found on iPhone 13 and are almost indistinguishable. The XR lacked all the features above and front an aesthetics perceptive, was quickly outdated (hardly any other phone today has a single rear camera).
Click to expand...
Fair. I forgot about the RAM increase. I think that’s the most significant improvement.
 
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So many people are still using the XR and it was popular because it was the first new look iPhone to launch without a stupid £1k+ price tag. The iPhone 11 was a better phone though but the XR had already dominated that market sector and few were willing to upgrade just a year later.

When I look around my place if work and out and about, the XR is still a popular device so it must have been appreciated.
 
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Still using my XR. I don’t know if the 14 will be enough to tempt me away; thinking of either waiting to see what happens with the SE next year, or for the USB iPhone 15 (as rumoured at least).
 
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JBGoode said:
The 'outrage' at the 750p screen was hilarious.
Click to expand...

It was so over the top on this forum I have to say. I remember when the X came out we had people here commenting that it was so far superior and the retina screens were for peasants etc. People couldn’t even look at a retina screen anymore they were that bad. In reality that was just a load of old tripe. The screen on the XR and 11 are very good. I have an 11 as a work phone and a 12 for personal use and I really don’t notice the difference unless I try and look hard and compare side by side. The iPhone OLED was massively overblown as being so much better than LCD. iPhones have always had really good screens and I felt a certain elitism crept in in the early days.
 
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So not exactly the XR, but when I got the 11 to replace my 7, I loved everything about it except the weight and size.

Exceptional phone at $599 new, when one year old. The ultra wide was a tremendous improvement that added a lot to the usability of the camera. (I never thought I used the ultra wide as much as I did/do. It’s a really helpful camera lens since backing up isn’t always an option in tight spaces.)

Edit: oh! The other thing that maybe wasn’t expressed much: the larger bezels actually made for a bubbly “friendly” look to the front that I liked.
 
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Always had a soft spot for the XR. The 11 was certainly not the better buy in comparison when both were new, due to the very limited number of upgrades and the design being a year older by then
 
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I love my XR and happy to have the LCD screen (PWM-sensitive). I’ve been using mine w/BT keyboard as an ‘only device’ for 3years now, averaging 6-8hr/day on ~50% batt running an automated custom battery optimization (batt hobbyist). My needs are relatively simple using mostly efficient apps/wifi.

I’m not budget constrained, I just find updating toys (accessorizing, learning, tuning, trusting, etc) to be painful, and so procrastinate it. My usual upgrade tiggers are (in order): processor too slow by modern standards; apps no longer supported or work; and/or battery no longer supports a full day on a single charge. iPhone17 may be my next upgrade (IME).
 
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KOTN91 said:
Always had a soft spot for the XR. The 11 was certainly not the better buy in comparison when both were new, due to the very limited number of upgrades and the design being a year older by then
Click to expand...

The 11 had a newer processor and better dual camera than the XR though and released at the same price as the XR. I’d say it was the better buy out of the two when new.
 
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Bought the XR new in May, 2019 -- a big upgrade from iP6. For me the larger display and increased processing capability were the main draws. My interest in photography is minimal so camera improvements in 2019-2020-2021 haven't really mattered. After 3+ years the battery capacity is at 88% (BatteryCycleCount = 567). Optimized Battery Charging is always enabled.

I'm still near totally satisfied with the XR -- it does everything I need it to, and fast. Jumping to a newer model is years away, probably not before the XR's software is eventually ineligible for updates. If in the interim the battery requires replacement, so be it. I love using this phone!

iPhone XR battery condition.jpg
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
The 11 had a newer processor and better dual camera than the XR though and released at the same price as the XR. I’d say it was the better buy out of the two when new.
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My main point is just that the software compatibility “line in the sand” when it comes to ML is the A12. With the 11, you’ve waited a year longer for no real longevity advantage.
 
Mr. Awesome said:
My main point is just that the software compatibility “line in the sand” when it comes to ML is the A12. With the 11, you’ve waited a year longer for no real longevity advantage.
Click to expand...

A13 introduced the AMX instruction set (also used on M1). E-cores improved IPC by 20-40%. Sustained graphics performance went up by 50% compared to A12. Combined with 4GB RAM, the 11 will signficantly outlast the XR in software performance.

There is a massive difference between XR and 11. Everything from the front/rear cameras (resolution, night mode) to the battery to the baseband was updated (Gigabit LTE).

The 11 is actually one of the biggest improvements ever for an iPhone and Apple dropped the price.
 
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My youngest sister just brought her first iPhone (XR) from FB marketplace in June. Of course being 14, my parents wanted her to get it with her own allowance so she saved up for it. The seller she got the XR from kept it in Mint Condition. I played with it a little bit. Plenty fast, battery is still good, the camera is good enough to take decent pics. The XR really does hold up really well.
 
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The XR was/is a great phone and really surprised the critics. I remember many reviewers at the time treating it like a curiosity and a crazy mistake by apple, and flat out assuming that nobody would want it because of that (shudder) LCD screen… and of course it sold like hot cakes and immediately became the template for the standard iPhone going forward. Almost as if Apple knew what they were doing…
 
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My XR is great. I replaced the battery after a couple of years, just to not have to worry about it.

I plan to upgrade to the 14, but mostly (only?) for the camera, I don't feel I need to.
 
I love my Xʀ! Battery life is still perfect on iOS 12, and while the camera improvements are good, I don’t use it too much for them to really matter. My favourite iPhone is my second phone, an iPhone 6s on iOS 10, though.
 
The XR was one of if not my favourite iPhones of all time. The battery life was insanely good on it, super reliable, excellent performance, and I had the product red colour which was a nice colour of red.
 
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