iPhone XR

A report from the Wall Street Journal today details Apple’s minuscule success in India with iPhone, specifically highlighting Amit Rajput, who runs a counter selling iPhones in the country with a population of over 1.3 billion. Rajput spoke on how one iPhone sale a day is considered ‘lucky’, with his coworkers at the Samsung, Oppo and Nokia counters selling well over ten devices daily.

The sales decline comes as a stark contrast to 2013, where Rajput recalled selling 80 iPhones per day. He says today, most Indian consumers don’t spend more than $300 on a smartphone — reducing Apple’s presence in the country dramatically.

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Following its four-day Black Friday shopping event last month, Apple has continued to incentivize customers to purchase a new iPhone with limited time discounts through the Apple GiveBack program. The trade-in offer, which was initially promoted with increasingly pervasive online marketing, has also made its way to Apple’s physical stores in an unprecedented way.

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Apple’s long-rumored first-party clear case is now finally available. At $39.99, it’s pricier than many of the third-party iPhone XR clear case options out there. Is the iPhone XR Clear Case worth it? Watch our hands-on video review for the details.
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Yesterday, we wrote about a new icon found on watchOS 5.1.2 showing a new model of Apple’s Smart Battery Case designed for new iPhone models such as the iPhone XS, XR and XS Max, which have no home button and the back camera in a vertical arrangement.

Today, we have obtained images that show a more clear picture of the new Smart Battery Case and also new information found in iOS that gives us an indication of Apple’s planned release schedule. There are images for three different models of the battery case: A2070, A2071 and A2171.

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DxOMark today revealed their official score for rating the iPhone XR’s sole rear camera, awarding the shooter a mark of 101, the highest ever for a single-lens smartphone. The score even got Apple’s Marketing chief Phil Schiller’s Tweet of approval, which is notable because previous DxOMark’s often ambiguous scores were disavowed by many in the Apple community after the company often rated relatively inexpensive Android phones consistently higher than flagship iPhones.
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After leaving new iPhone XR users hanging, Apple today has finally started selling a new clear case for the device. This case allows you to showcase the colorful iPhone XR design, while also keeping it protected against drops, scratches, and more.

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Amid reports of slowing sales and production shifts, Apple’s VP of product marketing Greg Joswiak sat down with CNET today to discuss consumer response to the iPhone XR. Joswiak says the iPhone XR has been the top-selling iPhone every day since its release…

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As rumored last week, Apple is indirectly lowering the price of the iPhone XR in Japan through larger carrier subsidies. On a 24 month contract, new customers to NTT Docomo can save about $100 over the life of their plan with the new reduced price.

The carrier business model in Japan relies on device subsidies to attract customers, similar to how the US smartphone market used to work. Total instalments for iPhone XR 64 GB on a 24 month contract would total 36,000 yen before this announcement. Now, the device cost drops to 24,000 yen (excluding the price of the mandatory contract fees).

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Apple is set to lower prices of the iPhone XR in Japan by offering subsidies to Japanese carriers, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal this morning. The price drops are apparently going into effect as soon as next week. The $750 price is somewhat disguised in Japan due to bundled carrier contracts, but the device is seemingly being overshadowed by the still popular iPhone 8 in the region.

In that same vein, the report says Apple is actually restarting production of the iPhone X for sale in certain markets …

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After releasing a Connect X multi-device lens clip compatible with both iPhones and Android smartphones, Olloclip is out today with specific models for iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max.

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Adobe is out today with updates to a couple of products including a new version of Lightroom CC for iOS with support for the iPad Pro, iPhone XS and XR, gesture compatibility with the new Apple Pencil, and more.

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Just as it did with the iPhone XS, Apple today has shared some of its favorite images shot with the iPhone XR. Apple shared the iPhone XR pictures in a press release, which includes samples from a variety of users on Instagram.

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Twelve South is out today with another update to its popular products, this time releasing its BookBook, Journal, and Surface cases for iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR. All made from high-quality leather, these Twelve South iPhone cases offer a range of style and function.

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TF International’s Ming-Chi Kuo has cut his estimates for iPhone XR shipments significantly, from 100 million to 70 million, through September 2019.  Kuo blames negative consumer confidence due to the ongoing trade war, competition from Huawei Mate 20 particularly in emerging markets, and customers coveting features like dual-camera.

Kuo has not lowered his total fourth quarter iPhone estimates of around 80 million units, as he believes the fall in XR shipments will be offset by higher sales of the XS series and legacy models like iPhone 8 and iPhone 7. However, he forecasts a decline looking into 2019.

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The iPhone XR does not have a pressure-sensitive display, so it lacks 3D Touch. Apple has introduced alternative gestures for many 3D Touch features under the marketing guise of ‘Haptic Touch’. This combines a normal long-press gesture with haptic feedback, like holding down the spacebar to activate keyboard trackpad mode, or using long press for the lock screen torch button.

One notable omission with the launch of iPhone XR was the lack of affordance for viewing rich notifications. iOS 12.1.1 beta 2 addresses this … so now it works as you would expect.

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While some international carriers have rolled out dual SIM support for the iPhone XS and XR, the major US wireless carriers have pushed back official support until “later this year.” However, GigSky has today updated its iOS app which brings support for eSIM on iPhone XS and XR to its North American and worldwide mobile data plans.

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