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The iPhone XR was Apple’s bold take on a lower‑cost iPhone - find out what it offered and why it won fans despite cutting some flagship features.
Written by Antonia, Head of Marketing | Consumer Electronics and Money-Saving
Last updated on 17 December 2025
As soon as rumour mill about this year's iPhones started spinning, we believed Apple is preparing a low-cost iPhone to meet expectations and appeal to those who dream about owning an iPhone but can't because the prices have been too rich for their blood.
A budget iPhone from Apple. A budget iPhone from Apple? What were we thinking... Looking at prices for iPhones couple years back, they seemed pricey at that time, but for the past years Apple has been pushing their price tag even further and now the iPhone 7 starting prices are a distant memory. Tim Cook and the team at Apple Event this week proved that prices won't be competitive, iPhones are not just computing devices and Apple will continue setting the trend competitors can't match.
Starting at £749, the XR represents the same design XS models do. A notch at the top with industry leading FaceID authentication technology and 7MP TrueDepth selfie camera. Edge-to-edge Liquid Retina 6.1" display. It's made of glass and aluminium frame and won't feel plasticy as the iPhone 5C did. In terms of specs, it matches the expensive XS duo. Same brand-new intelligent A12 Bionic chipset, IP67 certification, single 12MP camera that does all the bokeh tricks and doesn't fall behind what XS models' camera is capable of in low-light conditions and 4K video recording.
It comes in various vibrant finishes: coral, yellow and blue, snow white, deep black and terrific red. With internal storage options of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB, it has plenty of space to store your pictures, games and apps. Apple claims the battery will last 1.5 hours more than iPhone 8 Plus. Only caveat is that you will need to wait a little bit longer for it to be available for purchase - the iPhone won't retail until October 26th.
Announced along its premium iPhone X successors, the iPhone XR is the one we were all waiting for. Yes, it is relatively cheaper. Yes, the LCD screen is perceived as a step backwards (it has the same PPI as an iPhone 4!). But the XR delivers a balance of features and value for money. It doesn't look as old-school as the iPhone 8 did when it was unveiled alongside the iPhone X.
It will likely be the iPhone that will fly off the shelves. If you don't care about 3D Touch and non-existence of a dual camera set up doesn't bother you, the XR is your pick.
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