iPhone XR Receives FCC Approval Ahead of October 19 Pre-Orders

Thursday September 27, 2018 8:25 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Apple received approval from the FCC today to sell the iPhone XR in the United States, ahead of pre-orders next month.

iphonexr
Apple can now remove the following fine print from the iPhone XR product page on its website, although it has yet to do so:

iPhone XR has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. iPhone XR is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.

iPhone XR pre-orders begin Friday, October 19, with the first deliveries to customers and in-store availability starting a week later, on Friday, October 26. The colorful device starts at $749 in the United States.

With a $250 lower price point, the iPhone XR doesn't have all of the bells and whistles of the iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max. Some of the trade-offs include an LCD rather than OLED display, an aluminum instead of stainless steel frame, and a single rather than dual rear camera. Read our full comparison.

Nevertheless, the iPhone XR has the same A12 Bionic chip as the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, and its advertised battery life is longer than both of those devices. It also has a nearly edge-to-edge display with a notch, Face ID, a glass back, wireless charging, Portrait Mode with Depth Control, and Smart HDR.

Given its many similarities to the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, priced from $999 and $1,099 respectively, many tech reviewers have suggested waiting for the less-expensive iPhone XR. Orders begin in three weeks.

As far as FCC approval is concerned, it is a routine step before the launch of any new iPhone. However, Apple usually waits until the last minute to receive approval from the necessary regulatory agencies, whereas the iPhone XR has been somewhat surprisingly approved nearly a month ahead of sale.

Tag: FCC

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Top Rated Comments

applesith

106 months ago

I wish they would offer the XS in Red.

Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)

nutmac

106 months ago

One thing about the XR — why doesn’t Apple offer the front bezel in white as they did previously? I understand they may not want the notch to contrast with the screen, but I would think the surrounding bezel could be.

I’m gonna miss my white bezels on my future Apple devices if they continue with this approach.

Granted they are probably trying to perpetuate this illusion of edge-to-edge, which it is not, but I’d rather have the white bezel, no matter how slim ... especially on the white model. That always bothered me about the 5c too. And now it’s true for all of the new iPhones.

Because it will look like this:

iphone xr fcc approval image

I am sure there are folks who like the phone to look like this. But when the screen is nearly edge-to-edge, the white bezel really stands out and clashes with the screen.

Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Drumjim85

106 months ago

One thing about the XR — why doesn’t Apple offer the front bezel in white as they did previously? I understand they may not want the notch to contrast with the screen, but I would think the surrounding bezel could be.

I’m gonna miss my white bezels on my future Apple devices if they continue with this approach.

Granted they are probably trying to perpetuate this illusion of edge-to-edge, which it is not, but I’d rather have the white bezel, no matter how slim ... especially on the white model.

Funny how everyone has different tastes. I'm getting the white model this year only because it has a black front bezel.

Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

AngerDanger

106 months ago

Now that they’ve switched to OLED for the XS and XS Max and a new LED configuration for the XR, it seems it would be possible for the first time to have colored bezels that don’t require a black ring on the inside.

EDIT: Never mind, it's the ugliest thing I've made.