Review: Apple iPhone XR

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple’s third iPhone release for 2018, the colourful and perky iPhone XR, may have been relegated to second-class citizen status behind the pricier iPhone XS and XS Max and the new iPad Pro, Mac mini and MacBook Air unveiled today.

On any other year, a device like the iPhone XR would shine and stand alone as a worthy and worthwhile iPhone release. There’s a lot to the iPhone XR that will endear it to many users whose iPhone 6, iPhone SE or iPhone 7 handsets may be on their last legs.

Yes, it is more affordable than the premium iPhone XS family and if you can get over some of the manufacturing compromises (i.e. aluminum over stainless steel, LCD technology over OLED, 3 GB of RAM instead of 4 GB, single 12-megapixel rear camera instead of two) then the iPhone XR still has plenty to offer.

Click to read more ...

First impressions of the iPhone XR

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

It might be easy to overlook Apple's third iPhone release for 2018, the colourful iPhone XR in the wake of the popular and luxurious iPhone XS and the large and lavish iPhone XS Max. The truth is that the iPhone XR is possibly the most interesting iPhone release in years and will appeal to the sensitivities and budgets for the most amount of users.

Apple doesn't do budget iPhones. In the past, it would simply leave the previous year's release at a lower price while it promoted the flagship devices. The iPhone 5C, was a bit of an outlier in that it offered the same iPhone experience but with cheaper materials and a range of loud and lovely colours that attracted a wide gamut of users.

The good news is that the colours are back for the iPhone Xr, which comes to stores tomorrow. Unlike the iPhone 5C the colours for iPhone XR are not a plastic polycarbonate case, but this time on a reinforced glass enclosure. iPhone XR comes in black, white, blue, yellow, coral and (PRODUCT)RED colours. The iPhone XR, with the largest LCD display Apple has ever done at 6.1-inches, is slightly larger then the iPhone XS but is still dwarfed by the statuesque iPhone XS Max.

Click to read more ...

OnePlus moves OnePlus 6T reveal a date earlier to avoid sharing the media frenzy of Apple's event

We've known for some time that OnePlus would reveal its latest flagship, the OnePlus 6T in New York City on October 30. But since Apple announced an October 30 media event, also in New York City, OnePlus has smartly moved the launch date earlier by one day.

Knowing that Apple owns the news cycle on its #AppleEvent days, OnePlus smartly avoided a head on collision which might force journalists to forego OnePlus' launch in favour of the higher profile Apple launch. OnePlus, after all, is launching one product, the OnePlus 6T. Apple is expected to launch its consumer iPhone Xr and is expected to drop some iPad Pro, MacBook and Mac announcements at what will be likely its last event for the year before the holidays. See OnePlus' earnest explanation below.

"When we announced the launch of the OnePlus 6T on October 8, we were convinced our timing would allow us to maximize the amount of people we could reach with our message. That changed when Apple announced they would be hosting their own event on October 30. We know the entire industry and all media will be holding their breath. So, imagine how we felt when we learned the date of their latest event. One minute, we were preparing for our greatest and most exciting launch event yet. The next, we were posed with a difficult question: “What do we do now?”

Click to read more ...

Is the iPhone XR the triumphant return of the iPhone 5c?

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Given that it is an 'S' year in iPhone releases with the expected bump in features and functionality plus the availability of a larger size, this week's iPhone event really did give us a lot to consider.

iPhone buyers now have a plethora of choices (none of which feature a headphone jack) in terms of new iPhones. The iPhone XS improves on the design and performance of iPhone X and the iPhone XS Max supersizes this new notched and edge-to-edge design.

These are both flagship devices and the most expensive iPhones ever shipped, even if they are also the most capacious, with storage going up to a whopping 512GB on some models.

The iPhone XR, however, is the release that is likely going to draw the most attention. Following the Pro and Consumer strategy used by Apple to differentiate their MacBooks as well as their iPads, the iPhone XR fits in nicely as a more practical and somewhat affordable option.

Click to read more ...