Apple iPhone XS, XS Max vs. XR: Which New iPhone Is Best for You?

Apple's new flagship XS iPhones are big and expensive. The iPhone XR is colorful and slightly less expensive. Let's see what you really need in a new Apple smartphone.

Apple's iPhone lineup got a bit bigger this week with the introduction of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR.

The XS and XS Max are the flagships—big and bigger smartphones with high-resolution OLED screens and some impressive specs. The iPhone XR is nothing to sneeze at in terms of processing power, but it has a lower-resolution screen and only one camera. Still, the XR is more affordable than the XS and XS Max, and it comes in more colors. Let's see which iPhone is best for you.

Name Apple iPhone XR Apple iPhone XS Apple iPhone XS Max
Lowest Price
Editors' Rating
CPU Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
Dimensions 5.94 by 2.98 by 0.33 inches 5.65 by 2.79 by 0.3 inches 6.2 by 3.05 by 0.3 inches
Weight 6.84 lb 6.24 oz 7.34 oz
Screen Size 6.1 inches 5.8 inches 6.5 inches
Screen Type IPS LCD Super Retina HD Super Retina HD
Screen Pixels Per Inch 326 ppi 458 ppi 458 ppi
Camera Resolution 12MP Rear/7MP Front Dual 12MP Rear/7MP front-facing Dual 12MP Rear/7MP front-facing
Video Camera Resolution 4K, 1080p 4K, 1080p 4K, 1080p
microSD Slot No No No
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This is always the most obvious section of these comparison stories. The iPhone XR is less expensive, to the tune of $749 compared with $999 for the iPhone XS and $1,099 for the iPhone XS Max. That's for the 64GB models of all three phones, of course. Higher-capacity versions cost significantly more, with the 256GB iPhone XR going for $899 and the 512GB iPhone XS Max setting you back $1,449.


The iPhone XR is slightly less svelte than the XS and XS Max, measuring 0.33 inches deep compared to 0.30 inches. That's about half a millimeter, or nothing you'd notice without a set of calipers. Otherwise, the XR fits neatly between the XS and XS Max, slightly longer and wider than the former and slightly shorter and narrower than the latter.


iPhone XR

This is the iPhone XR's biggest sticking point compared with the XS and XS Max. While the two flagship iPhones feature OLED screens capable of remarkable contrast and very sharp Super Retina HD 458ppi, the iPhone XR uses a relatively mundane 6.1-inch IPS LCD screen with a sub-1080p 1,792-by-828 resolution for 326ppi. Apple calls it a "Liquid Retina" display, but at least on paper it sounds like a massive step back from the iPhone XS, XS Max, and last year's iPhone X. The Samsung Galaxy S9, which is even less expensive than the iPhone XR, features a 2,960-by-1,440 OLED screen with a much higher 570ppi.


Apple isn't skimping on processing power for the XR, even if it's making some heavy compromises for its screen. The more affordable iPhone model uses the same Apple A12 Bionic chip as the iPhone XS and XS Max. We don't have details on how much memory each phone has, but the much lower resolution of the iPhone XR might mean it runs even faster than the flagship iPhones, because the same processor doesn't have to push as many pixels.


iPhone XR

This is the other trade-off for the XR's lower price tag. It has a single 12MP rear-facing camera with an f/1.8 aperture, compared with the dual 12MP cameras on the XS and XS Max. The single camera limits certain photography effects, like creating bokeh when capturing portraits. More importantly, it reduces the phone's ability to detect depth with augmented reality software. It should still be a pretty solid phone camera on its own, with plenty of processing tricks to improve pictures thanks to the A12 Bionic chip. All the cameras have the same 7MP f/2.2 front-facing camera.


According to Apple, the iPhone XR can last 1.5 times longer than the iPhone 8 Plus. Stated battery life is comparable with if not better than the iPhone XS Max, with up to 15 hours of internet use and up to 65 hours of audio playback. Of course, we'll have to test the phones' batteries ourselves with our own process (streaming video over LTE at maximum brightness) to see which one lasts the longest.

The Verdict

The "most affordable" iPhone of this year is $749, which is still squarely in the flagship phone price range for most other brands. The iPhone XR seems to have the processing power behind it to make it stand out as a good alternative to the iPhone XS and XS Max, but the low-resolution LCD screen seems like too great a compromise for the $250 you would save, especially when Samsung's flagship phones have much higher resolution OLED screens for around the same price as the XR. Still, Apple's "Liquid Retina" display might pay off in tests, and we won't be fully certain about the phone until we get it into the lab.

For more, check out our comparison between the Apple iPhone XS/XS Max and Galaxy S9/S9+.