Apple Unveils the iPhone XR, a Budget Phone with One-Camera Portrait Mode

In addition to the new XS and XS MAX, Apple has also announced the new iPhone XR, the latest budget iPhone that still packs a mean punch.

Instead of an OLED display, the phone uses a 6.1-inch Liquid Retina LCD display that Apple calls the “most advanced LCD in a smartphone.” It’s purportedly the most color accurate LCD display in the industry, offering True Tone and wide color support.

Size-wise, the iPhone XR is the same as the iPhone 8 Plus (which has a 5.5-inch screen):

The display stretches edge-to-edge and is protected by the most durable front glass ever found in a smartphone. The band around the phone is crafted from durable 7000 series aerospace-grade aluminum. The back of the phone is also glass, which allows for wireless charging.

Other features and specs of the phone include IP67 water resistance, the new A12 Bionic chip, Face ID, LTE Advanced, Dual SIM, and iOS 12.

The Camera

Instead of a dual camera, the iPhone XR features a single 12-megapixel f/1.8 wide-angle lens. What it lacks in dual-camera-ness it makes up for with computational photography: the iPhone XR can — like the Google Pixel line — do Portrait Mode using its single camera thanks to improvements to the image signal processor, neural engine, and algorithms.

The front camera can also be used for Portrait Mode selfies.

Like the XS and XS MAX, the XR has a new Depth Control slider feature that lets you adjust the depth-of-field in Portrait Mode photos after they’re captured, going from maximum bokeh at f/1.8 to maximum depth-of-field at f/16.

And like the XS and XS MAX, the XR features Smart HDR, which preserves better highlight and shadow details across photos.

Other camera features include Portrait Lighting, Animoji, and Memoji.

Here are some official sample photos captured with the iPhone XR:

Here’s a 4-minute Apple video introducing the XR alongside the XS and XS MAX:

Pricing and Availability

The iPhone XR will be available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB models in white, black, blue, yellow, coral and (PRODUCT)RED for $749. Pre-orders will start on October 19th and the phone will hit store shelves on October 26.