As with all other major phone releases, the experts have now started tearing down the iPhone XR to see what it is really made of, and they made a surprising discovery – it has a bigger battery than nearly every other iOS smartphone in history, including the iPhone XS.
Early reviews of the XR confirm that its battery lasts a very long time. Apple itself claims that it should last about 1.5 hours longer than the iPhone 8 Plus.
When IFIXIT took apart an iPhone XR, it discovered a massive 11.12Wh battery. Compared to the 6.96Wh battery found in the iPhone 8, that is positively huge. The iPhone 8 Plus (10.28Wh) and iPhone XS (10.13Wh) also lag far behind. Even the XS Max only has a slightly larger 12.08Wh battery.
Of course, the length of time it takes for a battery to lose power also depends on how heavily it’s used.
The A12 Bionic processor Apple uses in all its 2018 phones is made with a 7nm process instead of the 10nm process used in earlier A-series chips. A smaller distance between components saves power because less energy is lost in the form of heat. It also offers improved performance – one more reason why the iPhone XR stands out among the crowd.
IFIXIT also confirmed that the iPhone XR features an LCD screen and not the OLED screen used in the XS range. It stated: “The need for a backlight means an LCD display assembly will always necessitate a slightly larger form factor than an equivalent AMOLED assembly.”
The thicker screen appears to be the reason for the XR’s lighting port being located somewhat to one side.
The iPhone XR has another new feature – a modular SIM card reader, which makes it easier to swap out this component. What IFIXIT did not find were any parts made by Samsung or Qualcomm.