The iPhone XR Is Depressing...

Would you look at that hot new piece of technology on the table right there

That's that, that's the latest iPhone. Right, that's the iPhone XR. Okay fine, no. It's the iPhone 4, but it does have something in common with the brand new iPhone XR

Some of you probably already know what that is. For those of you that don't, it has the same number of pixels per inch as the eventual upcoming iPhone XR

The 2018 iPhone XR. And as you can tell, I'm a little bit upset about it

Because the iPhone XR is a $750 device in 2018. And I'm sitting here looking at some screen resolution that's identical on a device that came out many years ago

Will, when did the iPhone 4 come out? June 24, 2010. That's when Apple was capable of putting a 326 PPI display into a smartphone

All the way back then, and they're still doing it to this day

And I can't figure out the reason. I know some of you out there in the audience are going to say

but Lou, on a smartphone, can you really see the difference? Can you tell the difference

So what about this PPI? Well, here's the thing. In an environment where we have plenty of choices and plenty of options

especially at low price points, all kinds of applications have started to take screen resolution into consideration

like YouTube Netflix and so on where you may want to trigger that HD functionality to be able to watch a full resolution video on your smartphone Now not a lot of people are talking about this but if you pick up this brand

new iPhone XR at $750 you're not going to be able to watch 1080p YouTube. You can't toggle that

setting because the device is not capable of it. Now I'm going to bring another phone into the mix

here this is the Samsung Galaxy S4 when did this come out will 2013 this device

came out it's got a 5-inch 1080p display for a PPI of 441 that's still four years

ago and of course every single Galaxy S device since then has maintained at

least that resolution at least 1080p of course there's ones now with even higher

resolution and you can toggle it to your own taste. Now there is a debate regarding what the human eye can actually see and at which distance. So at this distance here I shouldn't be able to discern pixels, possibly here I start to pick them up. On this display on the iPhone 4 if I look closely at a close range yes I can see individual pixels. Is it horrendous? Does it completely ruin the experience? No. I'm not suggesting that the phone is completely ruined by the fact that it

doesn't have at least a 1080p display. The reason I'm angry about this is because

there's not much reason for it except to distance the premium product from the discounted one

in my opinion To try to convince people to step up and spend more money on the more premium 10s and 10s max But the reason it irritating is because the material cost of stepping up to a few extra pixels

when the scale is there, when so many other smartphone manufacturers are already using those 1080p displays

some even with a notch, like on the Pocophone right here. There's an example

There's a 1080p display on a device that costs $300. How are these aggressive Android price points being serviced by 1080p resolution

Because the material cost on those displays is not that much. That part is ubiquitous

It's everywhere. So Apple probably could have given it to you. They just didn't want to

They didn't think they had to. And so they didn't. And now they're trying to compel people, much like with the charge brick that's not in the box for supercharge

They're trying to compel people to spend a little more while still stating, hey, at least we have a budget option

Now, to be completely fair, I think a lot of people are going to walk into the Apple store, look at the XR and be like, hey, that's fine for me

For me, that's non-negotiable. That's just kind of a jerk move. Now, I know there's going to be Apple fans out there

You're going to disagree with me. You're going to sit there and say, Lou, Apple knows best

Apple knows how much resolution we need. You're going to say 326 PPI is the perfect resolution

It's fine. But if that was the case then why does Apple sell premium devices with more resolution Why does the 10s and 10x max have a higher PPI For what reason Well because it not true If you hold those two displays next to each other you should be able to discern the difference if you know what you looking for

Now, at this point, I sound like an aggravated nerd, and possibly I am

And many people out there are gonna be like, but I can get the bright colors on the XR for 750

and that's really what I'm in this for. And look, if you're one of those people, more power to you, these are your dollars

But in my opinion, in an era with Pocophones and 1080 screens everywhere on devices under 500, under 400, under 300, this one for me is the biggest mess up on this particular device

Otherwise, the spec list looks pretty good. But see, the problem with this as a tech fan is that we count on the market leaders to push the better technology forward

We count on them to show us sort of what's happening and what's important and what's possible

And when you have a leader like Apple intentionally holding products back to create these price discrepancies

so they can play in these different marketplaces without cannibalizing their premium stuff

you have confusion in the consumer marketplace or at least a lack of understanding

Yes, the PPI of this guy, this ancient looking iPhone 4 is equivalent to the PPI of the new iPhone XR

There are way more pixel dense displays out there for less money

And you should know about it