Apple iPhone XR vs XS vs XS Max: Specifications, features compared

Apple earlier this week took the wraps off three new smartphones, iPhone XR, XS and XS Max. The "S" generations of phones have traditionally come with incremental upgrades over the predecessor. But this time around Apple has made some important design changes in its new iPhones along with traditional under-the-hood upgrades.

Before we break down the differences between the three smartphones, let's talk about the common features. All three iPhones, iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max sport a notch which houses Truedepth sensor that enables an improved FaceID (facial recognition). They all share common 7-megapixel front-facing camera.

Also, they're powered by Apple's latest A12 Bionic chipset which comes with next-generation neural engine. The processor will be responsible for facilitating graphic and resource-intensive applications. Now, let's talk about the key differences:

The iPhone XR, XS and XS Max are also Apple's first smartphones to support dual-SIM functionality. The secondary SIM however is an eSIM.

READ: How e-SIM in India works?

Design and display
Even as iPhone X has been reportedly phased out in the US, the polarising smartphone seems like the reference hardware for future Apple devices. The three phones have notch on the front but come with different screen sizes. In the case of Apple iPhone XR, the phone uses a different screen material altogether.

Apple iPhone XR comes with a larger 6.1-inch Liquid Retina HD IPS display with 1792x828-pixel resolution at 326 ppi. Apple iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max come with Super Retina HD screen with 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch all-screen OLED panels respectively. The two OLED phones have 2436x1125-pixel resolution at 458 ppi and 2688x1242-pixel resolution at 458 ppi.

Another big difference is that the low-cost iPhone XR doesn't have 3D Touch functionality. The pressure-sensitive technology recognises different degrees of the pressure on the screen and responds accordingly. The tech had debuted with iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus in 2015 and had been staple feature on Apple's iPhones since then. Apple iPhone XR rather has a haptic feedback enabled screen to mimic the experience.

Camera
Apple iPhone XR comes with single camera lens on the back. It has 12-megapixel of resolution with ƒ/1.8 aperture, Optical image stabilisation, Digital zoom up to 5x, Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and adjustable depth support, and Portrait Lighting with three effects (Natural, Studio, Contour).

Apple iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max sport the same camera setup on the back. The two phones have Dual 12-megapixel wide-angle and telephoto cameras. The first sensor has Wide-angle: ƒ/1.8 aperture whereas the secondary sensor has telephoto lens with f/2.4 aperture. Both the phones have dual optical image stabilisation, 2X optical zoom, digital zoom up to 10X, Portrait Lighting with five effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono).

Battery
Apple doesn't reveal the mAh capacity of its iPhones. The company, however, claims iPhone XS' battery lasts up to 30 minutes longer than iPhone X whereas iPhone XS Max's offers 1.5 hours more battery life than iPhone X. For iPhone XR, Apple says the phone gives up to 1.5 hours longer back up than iPhone 8 Plus.