Much of the fanfare and attention may have been solely focused on the reveal of the iPhone XS and XS Max, but it was then followed by the iPhone XR. The bigger starting price may have deterred people to hold off until the latter’s release and that date is inching closer by the day.
Apple has announced that pre-orders are now live in more than 50 countries worldwide for the iPhone XR and it will officially release on 26 October.
What’s the difference?
Just one look at the iPhone XR should make it obvious that there are significant differences when compared to the iPhone XS released weeks ago:
- Available in 6 different colours
- Has a single-lens 12MP camera on the rear (yet it can also take Portrait photos)
- The display is LCD-based but still equally sharp to provide Apple’s Retina HD display
- Storage option maxed out to 256GB
- A lower starting price
If this isn’t enough and you want to geek out at the internals, you can see a side-by-side comparison with the iPhone XS specifications below.
| iPhone XS | iPhone XR | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | Super Retina Display: 5.8-inch @ 458ppi; True Tone display | Liquid Retina Display: 6.1 inch @ 326 ppi; True Tone display |
| Rear Camera | 12MP wide (f/1.8) and telephoto lens (f/2.4); OIS on both wide and telephoto | 12MP (f/1.8) with OIS |
| Front Camera | 7MP (f/2.2) TrueDepth camera | 7MP (f/2.2) TrueDepth camera |
| Storage (in GB) | 64, 256 and 512 | 64, 128 and 256 |
| Dual SIM | Yes (Physical nanoSIM + eSIM) China gets a special variant where you can add 2 physical nano SIMs | Yes (Physical nanoSIM + eSIM) |
| Colours | Gold, Silver and Space Grey | White, Black, Blue, Coral, Yellow and Product RED |
| Water and dust resistance certification | IP68 (2m up-to 30 minutes submerged) | IP67 (1m up-to 30 minutes submerged) |
| Starting price | $900 | $749 |
The iPhone XR does support Dual SIM (physical nanoSIM + eSIM) and the release date means that Dual SIM use should launch very soon in the Middle East as iOS 12.1 will enable it (hence, the iPhone XR should come with the new iOS pre-installed).
Pre-orders and release date in the Middle East
The one difference in the release of the iPhone XR is that the launch wave includes six countries from the Middle East, hence they’re all getting it at the same time. Pre-orders have already started from 19 October and the official release date is the 26 October. So I’ve tried to make it as easy for people to go straight to their respective mobile carriers by linking to their announcements:
- UAE: Etisalat and Du
- Saudi Arabia: Zain KSA, Mobily, and STC
- Qatar: Ooredoo Qatar and Vodafone Qatar
- Oman: Ooredoo Oman
- Bahrain: Zain Bahrain, Viva, and Batelco
- Kuwait: Ooredoo Kuwait
Just a reminder, you won’t see a Lighting to 3.5mm Headphone jack adapter bundled with it. You’ll have to buy them separately.
Image credits: Apple Newsroom for article images
