I saw some complaints about the iPhone Xr by a few publications. Many of the critiques were indeed valid. A phone with under 4 GB of RAM, and a display that the user wouldn’t even be able to enjoy 1080P content on, was selling for over $700. A valid critique when there are phones selling for less than half of that price with a better screen and more RAM.
These are valid arguments, in fact I started this thread with the intention of throwing a little shade at Apple because of the iPhone Xr. If I was going to criticize Google for holding back specs on the 3XL, then I could not allow Apple to slide. But as I started to pen this article, I thought about the average consumer.
The reality is that the only people that really hype on specs are tech nerds, like myself. The rest of the world know name brands, and if the phone looks good. And Apple does that with this phone. The phone looks the part, has an Apple logo, and leaves off what they (Apple) consider is needed to bring the cost down. And because of that, I see the iPhone Xr selling. There are people not wanting, or needing, to spend $1000 on an iPhone. Plus, if you add the fact you can buy the phone in a number of color options, this will be enough to sway buyers.
When looking at the phones side by side (iPhone Xr and iPhone X), the display quality did not look that much different. The iPhone Xr (to me) had a slightly brighter display. Other than that, I really could not see where one display blew the other away. And this leads me to my topic.
Display, RAM, specs, do they matter?
Yes and no. Yes because this allow us to not only see the progression of these devices, but be able to compare the value of one phone versus another. In other words, it allow me to be able to ask the big name companies why they are charging me more money for less specs (compared to what other manufacturers are providing).
No in that specs do not tell the story alone. We have seen for years how iPhones outperform android phones with better specs. Specs mean nothing if the user experience is poor. Lag, poor picture quality (camera), and lack of software support will have some customers shying away from a phone with better specs for a phone that performs well, has better picture quality, and software support. This is why I personally chose a Pixel over a Samsung, because I want a phone that will continue to get software support. And the reality is that people trust Apple (with the iPhone Xr) over the mid tier phone with much better specs.
And as far as the display quality, most people will not notice or care for the day to day. When asking random people this question, the primary response was on why they would care about 1080p quality display on a phone. They have a 4K TV at home, that is what they care about the display quality on. But not so much a phone.
The reality is that the tech sites and nerds care about waging a spec war. The average consumer just want a phone that looks the part, does what it is suppose to (which is make calls, send texts, and allow them to surf the net), and continue to maintain its performance for two years or more. If it does that well, then people will buy it.
Do specs matter to you?
