Apple iPhone XR is colourful, cheaper LCD iPhone

The iPhone XR promises an iPhone X experience on a 'Liquid Retina' LCD screen. Launching alongside the new iPhone XS and XS Max, the iPhone XR comes in an array of colours and a 6.1in screen.

There's no Touch ID home button but there is the same Face ID sensor as on the XS and XS Max flagship phones. It has a 7000 series aluminium and glass design rather than the stainless steel on the high-end iPhones, but it does feature the same A12 bionic chip for better battery life and faster performance.

The iPhone XR is cheaper... but it's not cheap. Available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB sizes, the XR will start from £749/$749 rising to £899 for the 256GB model.

Apple is calling its new LCD screen, 'Liquid Retina' - and "the most advanced LCD in the industry". Apple claims a new backlight design allows the screen to stretch into the corners. So you see true-to-life colour from one beautiful edge to the other. It has a 1792 x 828 resolution screen, with 326 pixels per inch.

Sitting between the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus in terms of size, the iPhone XR comes in white, black, blue, coral, yellow and Product Red. It's also IP67 water-resistant, and has a new single camera system with the same 12MP wide-angle lens as on the XS and XS Max.

And the camera system has many of the same features as on the high-end phones, such as TrueTone flash, Portrait Mode, depth control and Smart HDR. Battery life has been boosted too, with 90 minutes more than on the iPhone 8 Plus, and there's wireless charging on the back of the phone.

The iPhone XR 64GB will cost £749, the 128GB is £799 and the 256GB is £899. You can pre-order from 19th October and the iPhone XR will ship from 26th October.

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Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).