As global smartphone sales plummet, Apple's mobile devices still have the power to plunge the average consumer into an existential crisis. An adult with a decent job and a family to support, faced with an unbelievably expensive smartphone, seriously ponders which model to buy.
This year, like last year, you have three options. For users who pursue cutting-edge mobile technology, two models bearing the "Pro" name were prepared. "iPhone 11 Pro" starting at $ 999 (106,800 yen in Japan) and "iPhone 11 Pro Max" starting at $ 1,099 (119,800 yen in Japan).
And for everyone else, there is the iPhone 11. As you can see from the lack of the word Pro, it's not the best, but it's still a pretty good smartphone. The price starts at $699 (74,800 yen), which is slightly cheaper than last year's "iPhone XR" at $749 (84,800 yen).
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11 is equipped with the same "A13 Bionic" processor as the top two models. The camera is inferior to the Pro, but it can be said that the performance is completely comparable to the main models of competing manufacturers. If you've been patient enough to decipher Apple's marketing jargon and get its place right, you'll find the 11 to be a very good model.
From here, I will introduce 11 in detail. Not only last year's XR, "XS" and "XS Max", but also two models of the Pro series will be posted for reference. If you are interested in the Pro series, please read the review article that will be published separately.
Storage starts at 64GB
As we mentioned, the 11 is priced at $699 for the base model with 64GB of storage. The basic model of the iPhone used to have 16GB of storage capacity until a while ago, but with this, just installing a few apps fills it up. For this reason, the minimum capacity has been changed to 64GB. Above this is 128GB ($749, 79,800 yen in Japan) and 256GB ($849, 90,800 yen in Japan).
Apple is strongly encouraging trade-ins on older iPhones this time around. If you have an old iPhone, the 11 will cost you as much as $399 (¥48,630 in Japan), but of course it must be recent and in pretty good condition. For example, even if you have an "iPhone 8 Plus" at hand, if the screen is cracked, the 11 discount is not applicable. If you trade it in, however, the iPhone will be recycled "for free" (Apple reuses some parts).
With the release of 11, the price of the basic model of XR will be reduced to $ 599 (64,800 yen). Not bad for a brand new iPhone.
For reference, the price of 11 Pro was set at $ 999 for 64GB and $ 1,349 for the maximum capacity of 512GB [144,800 yen]. The 11 Pro Max is $1,099 for 64GB [119,800 yen] and $1,449 for 512GB [157,800 yen]. If you're thinking of buying the Pro Max, be prepared to lighten your wallet quite a bit due to the phone's sheer size and storage.