Apple’s flagship phone for 2020, the iPhone 12 is now in stores and the company has begun shipping it to online store customers as well. The new phone is shiny and packs a lot more new features. However, not everyone has to invest in the latest all the time, there are much nicer budget options as well available in the market.
The iPhone 12 is actually much more expensive compared to the previous generation iPhone 11. Last year, the unlocked SIM-free iPhone 11 retailed for $699 whereas this year, the iPhone 12 retails for $829. Also, starting this year, none of the iPhone will have a charger or EarPods in the box.
No charger in the box :/
People buying a new iPhone this year will have to invest an additional $19 for the 20W charger. Apple says that the move to remove the charging brick from the box is for environmental related reasons which may be slightly true. However, the company could have instead moved away from lightning to USB-C on the iPhone to make it truly “environmentally friendly”.
As every year, the prices of the previous generation iPhones have fallen by $100. The 2018 iPhone XR now costs $499 and the 2019 iPhone 11 now costs $599. Both are great phones and will last for years, however the iPhone 11 is the better “bang for buck” option.
The iPhone 11 packs an additional camera on the back – the ultrawide which is fun to use and is a deal breaker for a lot of people. The iPhone 11 uses the A13 Bionic chip whereas the iPhone XR uses the A12 Bionic; the difference is negligible but the iPhone 11 will likely receive system updates for longer. Also, the iPhone 11 packs a slightly larger battery which will result in battery backup.
If you do not care about 5G and OLED displays, the iPhone 11 is a great option. If you’d like to go even lower, the iPhone XR is a decent option as well but the iPhone 11 is the safer bet.
