The smartphone market is as crowded as ever - there is a lot of choice, too much in fact.
If you're reading this feature, you've at least narrowed your options down to Apple's iPhone. Even that's not exactly easy though, with a range of models to choose from.
Apple offers the iPhone SE, the iPhone XR, the iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max. With five options, the big question is which one is right for you? Let us explain the differences to help you figure out where you should be spending your money.
Short resume
The iPhone 11 is the base model of the latest iPhone series, offering a dual camera, aluminum build, six color options, IP68 water and dust resistance, and a processor and battery bump over older iPhone XR models.
The iPhone 11 Pro has the same hardware as the iPhone 11, but it offers better build quality, a triple rear camera, and an OLED display for mobile HDR mode compatibility. There are a few extra camera features on board compared to the iPhone 11 too.
The iPhone 11 Pro Max is the iPhone that has it all. The hardware and specs are the same as the iPhone 11 Pro, but it offers everything in a big package with a 6,5-inch OLED display. This big package costs a pretty penny, though, since the iPhone 11 Pro Max is the most expensive iPhone available.
The iPhone XR is the entry-level model in Face ID iPhones with a front screen design and Face ID behind Touch ID. While it has a more advanced display, filling most of the front of the phone, it's the oldest core hardware of all current phones offered by Apple. It offers a single camera on the back.
The iPhone SE (2020) is Apple's newest affordable phone. This follows the design from the iPhone 8, so the display isn't as impressive as other models currently available, but it does have the latest core hardware, just like the iPhone 11 models. It has a single camera on the back.
Apple iPhone 11
- Dimensions: 150.9 x 75.7 x 8,3mm, 194g, IP68 waterproof
- Display: 6.1-inch, 1792 x 828 (326 ppi), haptic touch, true tone, HDR mode
- Memory: 64 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB
- Battery: hours before 17
- Colours: black, green, yellow, purple, white, product(red)
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The Apple iPhone 11 is the cheapest way to get your hands on one of the newest iPhone models. It takes its design from the iPhone XR, with an aluminum frame and a colored glass back.
There are two cameras on the back — the main difference between this model and the iPhone 11 Pro model below — and several additional camera features have been introduced over older iPhone XR models, including night mode and auto-correction.
The iPhone 11 runs on the A13 chip like the iPhone 11 Pro models and is claimed to have one hour more battery life than the iPhone XR. It offers the same display size and resolution as the iPhone XR and yet, the meaning is LCD sticks for OLED - and it's not HDR either. However, there is a true tone, as well as tactile touch, as on the model.
The iPhone 11 is the iPhone to buy if you want all the latest and greatest features offered by Apple, but you don't want to pay too much for this privilege.
- Review of Apple iPhone from 11
Apple iPhone 11 Pro
- Dimensions: 144 x 71.4 x 8,1mm, 188g, IP68 waterproof
- Display: 5,8-inch, 2436 x 1125 (458ppi), haptic touch, true tone, HDR mode
- Memory: 64 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB
- Batteries: hours before 18
- Colours: Silver, Space Grey, Gold, Dark Green
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The Apple iPhone 11 Pro is an iPhone with all the latest and greatest technology from Apple. This is a direct replacement for the 2018 iPhone XS and it features a stainless steel frame, frosted glass back and premium finishes with a 19:9 aspect ratio all-screen design.
The OLED screen dominates the front rather than the LCD 11 and you'll find tactile touch at the 3D touch point, along with movable RVB compatibility. True Tone technology is also present and Face ID sits at the top of the display in a groove replacing the Touch ID fingerprint sensor.
Like the iPhone 11, the 11 Pro has an A13 bionic neural engine processor, no headphones, and support for wireless charging and fast charging - with an 18W fast charger in the box - something the iPhone 11 doesn't offer. It also has an LED IP68 waterproof rating.
The triple-rear camera is present on the iPhone 11 Pro, wide-angle, ultra-wide-angle and telephoto, and the iPhone 11 Pro has the same features as the iPhone 11 in terms of camera, plus a few extras thanks to the third lens. An updated 12-megapixel TrueDepth front camera is also present.
The iPhone 11 Pro is the iPhone to buy if you want everything Apple has to offer in a slightly smaller and cheaper package than the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
- Apple iPhone 11 Pro review
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
- Dimensions: 158 x 77.8 x 8,1mm, 226g, IP68 water resistance
- Display: 6,5-inch, 2688 x 1242 (458ppi), haptic touch, true tone, HDR mode
- Memory: 64 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB
- Batteries: hours before 25
- Colours: Silver, Space Grey, Gold, Dark Green
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The iPhone 11 Pro Max offers everything that the "small" iPhone 11 Pro does, but in a bigger package. This is an iPhone with a large display, offering a 6,5-inch OLED screen on the front.
Aside from the physical size and display size, however, the iPhone 11 Pro Max does everything for the iPhone 11 Pro. That means you get an A13 chip, a triple 12MP camera on the back, a stainless steel body, a textured back glass, wireless charging, all display technologies including HDR and haptic touch, and it also has IP68 water resistance.
The iPhone 11 Pro Max is the iPhone to buy if budget isn't an issue and you're after everything Apple has to offer in the widest possible format.
- Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max comment
Apple iPhone XR
- Dimensions: 150.9 x 75.7 x 8,3mm, 194g, IP67 waterproof
- Display: 6.1-inch, 1792 X 828 (326 PPI), True Tone
- Memory: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
- Batteries: hours before 25
- Colours: white, black, blue, yellow, coral, (product) red
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The iPhone XR is the cheapest way to get your hands on the latest full-screen front iPhone without Touch ID Home button and Face ID, sitting between the iPhone SE and iPhone 11 models in terms of price. The XR has a rear glass with IP67 water and dust resistance and comes in six color options.
The display size increases from the iPhone SE to 6,1-inches, but the size on the XR sits making it slightly larger than the iPhone SE. This is an LCD display that offers tactile touch. It also has True Tone technology.
The iPhone XR is powered by the Apple A12 bionic chip and its battery life is good, longer than the iPhone SE. It supports wireless charging and fast charging, but it doesn't have a fast charger in the box.
A single camera on the back of the iPhone XR differentiates it from the more expensive iPhone 11. It's a 12-megapixel wide-angle sensor with OIS, but despite not offering a secondary telephoto sensor for the iPhone XR, there's still a portrait mode with depth control, smart HDR, and portrait lighting features , such as the iPhone 11 models. There is also a 7MP TrueDepth camera on the front, allowing for Face ID and Animojis.
The iPhone XR is the iPhone to buy if you want Face ID on the iPhone but don't bother with the 11's dual cameras.
- Review of Apple iPhone in XC
Apple iPhone SE (2020)
- Dimensions: 138.4 x 67.3 x 7,3mm, 148g, IP67 waterproof
- Display: 4.7 inches, 1334 x 750 (326 ppi), tactile touch, true tone
- Memory: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
- Battery: hours before 13
- Colours: Black, White, Red
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The iPhone SE (2020) is Apple's new budget phone, creating new entry points to the ecosystem. It picks up on the iPhone 8 design while maintaining the same measurements and also offers IP67 rating.
What the design means is that the iPhone SE retains Touch ID, the only model that doesn't have face ID, and the display also sticks to the old 16:9 aspect rather than the 19:9 aspect of the iPhone XR and 11 models.
Outside of that, the design of the iPhone SE is much newer. It's powered by the A13 Bionic, the same guy as the iPhone 11, meaning it's more powerful than the iPhone XR.
There's a single 12-megapixel camera on the back that offers the same features as the iPhone XR, but goes a step further to offer the same portrait, lighting effects as the iPhone 11 model, as well as next-generation HDR smart mode. This means it's better on the rear camera than the iPhone XR.
- Apple iPhone Comment SE