As many of us know, every year when September rolls around, Apple releases a new iPhone. Just to backtrack, three new iPhones were released last year; the iPhone 8, the iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X. The 8 and 8 Plus were more updated versions of the traditional iPhone. However, the X was something that we had never seen before. The screen takes up the entire front of the phone and has no home button. Instead of using a Touch ID, the iPhone X used Face ID to unlock the phone, a new feature that which generated skepticism (would it work in the dark, would it work if the user had sunglasses on, etc.)
This September, Apple has again announced the release of three new iPhones: the iPhone XS, the iPhone XS Max, and the iPhone XR. I was confused when I heard this, since all of the previous iPhone generations have been clearly numbered and named. These three new iPhones all seem to be similar to each other- seemingly updated models of the iPhone X. I’ll go through each model and compare them to one another to give you a quick run-down of their features and pricing.
iPhone XS:
- Height: 5.65 inches
- Width: 2.79 inches
- Screen (diagonal): 5.8 inches
- Dual wide-angle & telephoto camera
- Colors: Silver, Space Gray, and Gold
- Available in: 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB
- Cost: $999, $1149, and $1349 (Respective of GB size)
iPhone XS Max:
- Height: 6.2 inches
- Width: 3.05 inches
- Screen (diagonal): 6.5 inches
- Dual wide-angle & telephoto camera
- Colors: Silver, Space Gray, and Gold
- Available in: 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB
- Cost: $1099, $1249, and $1449 (Respective of GB size)
iPhone XR:
- Height: 5.94 inches
- Width: 2.98 inches
- Screen (diagonal): 6.1 inches
- Single camera
- Colors: Blue, White, Black, Yellow, Coral, and Red
- Available in: 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB
- Cost: $749, $799, and $899 (Respective of GB size)
Personally, I find it difficult to justify spending $1500 on a new phone. Being a college student, if I have that extra money lying around, there are so many things that I would rather spend it on. You can go on an epic spring break trip with your friends, put it towards a car, or go the responsible route and save it to pay off loans. You can actually buy a brand-new MacBook Pro for less than the price of the 512GB iPhone XS Max. While I do like Apple and have an iPhone myself, I think they have gone too far with the price of these new phones.
Every year the new models are getting pricier, and I think that Apple is eventually going to dig themselves into a hole if they continue to price their phones this way; eventually, people will not be able to afford these items. While the phone are certainly improving in quality with each generation, they are simply becoming too expensive for students to buy. So, if you ask me, I don’t think they are worth the price, as I just can’t find it in myself to justify spending so much.