Apple is scheduled to kick off iPhone XR pre-orders tonight. As part of the company’s new strategy to give early access to social media influencers, popular YouTubers who have been playing with review units for a week today posted their first hands-on video videos.
First iPhone XR reviews on YouTube
Check out the videos embedded below.
Be sure to check out our roundup of the best iPhone XR cases so far.
iPhone XR availability
Apple is scheduled to open pre-orders for the colorful handset beginning tonight, October 19, at midnight Pacific Time. You can pre-order yours via Apple.com or in the Apple Store app or directly at any Apple retail store, an Authorized Reseller or supported carrier. The device arrives in stores one week later on Friday, October 26.
The handset will launch in 50+ countries:
- Albania
- Andorra
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- China
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Greenland
- Guernsey
- Herzegovina
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Ireland
- Isle of Man
- Italy
- Japan
- Jersey
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macedonia
- Malta
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Oman
- Poland
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
- United States Virgin Islands
Availability will expand to the following countries on Friday, November 2:
- Armenia
- Bhutan
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- Georgia
- Kazakhstan
- South Korea
- Macau
- Maldives
- Myanmar
- Ukraine
- Vietnam
One day earlier, on November 1, iPhone XR arrives in Israel.
Like with other flagship iPhones, you can spread the full cost of your XR across 24 monthly payments via Apple’s Upgrade Program, which comes with such perks as free AppleCare+ protection and the ability to upgrade to a new device every 12 months.
iPhone XR features
iPhone XR is available in a range of vibrant colors: Black, White, Blue, Yellow, Coral and (PRODUCT)RED, marking the first time a (PRODUCT)RED variant is available at launch. The phone starts at $749 for the baseline model with 64 gigabytes of storage. 128GB and 256GB varieties are available as well.
The handset has all the same features like the more expensive iPhone XS series complete with the new A12 Bionic chip, Face ID, a near fullscreen design with the notch at the top and more. Unlike the XS series, iPhone XR has a lower-resolution display that uses the traditional LCD technology, not OLED, and an aluminum-clad band instead of the shinier stainless steel band on the premium iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max series.
It also ships with a single-lens camera out the back, but Apple is now able to achieve the depth-of-field effect by taking advantage of Focus Pixels in the camera sensor along with computational photography advancements afforded by Apple’s fast processor with its next-generation Neural Engine devoted to accelerating machine learning tasks.
It also supports the latest Smart HDR and Depth Control photography features.
Which iPhone XR color are you?
How do you like these early iPhone XR reviews so far?
Are you in the market for an iPhone XR? If so, which color would you pick?
Let us know by leaving a comment below.