Apple · iPhone
iPhone XS
The iPhone XS is Apple's 5.8-inch Pro-tier iPhone from 2018, refining the iPhone X with the 7-nanometre A12 Bionic chip, Smart HDR, IP68 water resistance, Dual SIM with eSIM and a gold finish, suited to anyone comparing older Face ID iPhones before upgrading.
- Screen
- 5.8″
- Display
- OLED, 60 Hz
- Chip
- A12 Bionic
- Memory
- 4 GB
- Storage
- 64 GB – 512 GB
- Main camera
- 12 MP
- Zoom
- 2×
- Battery
- 2,659 mAh
- Weight
- 177 g
What reviewers say
Reviewers agree the XS is fast, with an improved camera that handles dark and high-contrast scenes better, and a fine display. All three found it a modest upgrade on the iPhone X at a very high price; CNET and TechRadar found battery life middling, and CNET recommended the cheaper XR to most buyers.
From techradar.com, cnet.com and trustedreviews.com
Specifications
Report a wrong or missing specDisplay
- Screen size
- 5.8″
- Resolution
- 2436 × 1125
- Sharpness
- 463 pixels per inch
- Panel
- OLED
- Refresh rate
- 60 Hz
- Peak brightness
- 625 nits
- Display type
- Super Retina HD display; 5.8-inch (diagonal) all-screen OLED Multi-Touch display with rounded corners; 5.85 inches measured as a standard rectangle
- Pixel density
- 458 ppi
- Brightness detail
- 625 cd/m² max brightness (typical)
- Screen protection
- Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
- Display features
- HDR display; True Tone; wide colour display (P3); 3D Touch; 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical)
Performance
- Chip
- A12 Bionic
- Memory
- 4 GB
- Storage
- 64 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB
- CPU
- Six-core (2x 2.5 GHz Vortex + 4x 1.6 GHz Tempest) (GSMArena); 4 GB of Micron LPDDR4X RAM (iFixit)
- GPU
- Apple-designed four-core GPU (GSMArena)
- AI engine
- Next-generation Neural Engine (8-core)
Cameras
- Main camera
- 12 MP
- Ultra wide camera
- None
- Telephoto camera
- 12 MP
- Optical zoom
- 2×
- Front camera
- 7 MP
- Main camera
- 12MP wide-angle, ƒ/1.8 aperture, optical image stabilisation, six-element lens, quad-LED True Tone flash with Slow Sync
- Telephoto camera
- 12MP telephoto, ƒ/2.4 aperture, optical image stabilisation, 2x optical zoom
- Front camera
- 7MP TrueDepth camera, ƒ/2.2 aperture, Retina Flash
- Zoom
- 2x optical zoom; digital zoom up to 10x (photos) and 6x (video)
- Video recording
- 4K at 24, 30 or 60 fps; 1080p at 30 or 60 fps; 720p at 30 fps; extended dynamic range up to 30 fps; optical image stabilisation for video; slo-mo 1080p at 120 or 240 fps; stereo recording
- Front video
- 1080p HD at 30 or 60 fps; extended dynamic range at 30 fps
- Camera features
- Smart HDR; Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control; Portrait Lighting with five effects; Animoji and Memoji; Live Photos; panorama (up to 63MP); HEIF and JPEG
Battery and charging
- Battery
- 2,659 mAh
- Video playback (maker's claim)
- Up to 14 hours
- Wireless charging
- Yes (wattage not published)
- Battery life detail
- Lasts up to 30 minutes longer than iPhone X; talk time up to 20 hours; internet use up to 12 hours; wireless video playback up to 14 hours; wireless audio playback up to 60 hours; 3.81 V, 10.13 Wh, 2,659 mAh (iFixit)
- Wired charging
- Up to 50% in 30 minutes with an 18W adapter or higher (available separately)
- Wireless charging
- Works with Qi chargers
Design
- Type
- Standard
- Weight
- 177 g
- Thickness
- 7.7 mm
- Height × width
- 143.6 × 70.9 mm
- Water and dust resistance
- IP68
- Materials
- Glass front and back with a surgical-grade stainless steel band
- Colours
- Gold, Space Grey, Silver
- Buttons
- Volume up/down; ring/silent; side button
- Water resistance detail
- IP68 (maximum depth of 2 metres up to 30 minutes) under IEC standard 60529
- Biometrics
- Face ID, enabled by the TrueDepth camera
- Sensors
- Face ID; barometer; three-axis gyro; accelerometer; proximity sensor; ambient light sensor
- Speakers
- Wider stereo playback
Software
- Operating system
- iOS
- Software at launch
- iOS 12
Connectivity
- Mobile network
- Gigabit-class LTE with 4x4 MIMO and LAA; model A1920: FDD-LTE (bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 29, 30, 32, 66, 71), TD-LTE (bands 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46); VoLTE; Wi-Fi calling
- SIM
- Dual SIM (nano-SIM and eSIM)
- Wi-Fi
- Wi-Fi 802.11ac with 2x2 MIMO
- Bluetooth
- Bluetooth 5.0
- NFC
- NFC with reader mode; Express Cards with power reserve
- USB
- Lightning connector; video mirroring and video out up to 1080p through the Lightning Digital AV Adapter and Lightning to VGA Adapter (sold separately)
- Positioning
- Assisted GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS; digital compass; Wi-Fi; cellular; iBeacon microlocation
Storage options
| Storage |
|---|
| 64 GB |
| 256 GB |
| 512 GB |
Pros and cons
Pros
- A12 Bionic, the first 7-nanometre chip in a smartphone, with an 8-core Neural Engine
- IP68 to 2 metres, against IP67 for the iPhone X
- Dual SIM (nano-SIM and eSIM) and Gigabit-class LTE
Cons
- 2,659 mAh battery (iFixit), smaller than the iPhone X's 2,716 mAh
- No headphone jack
- 177 g, against 174 g for the iPhone X
Closest rivals
Model | Screen | Display | Chip | Memory | Storage | Main camera | Zoom | Battery | Weight | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.8″ | OLED, 60 Hz | A13 Bionic | 4 GB | 64 GB – 512 GB | 12 MP | 2× | 3,046 mAh | 188 g | Sept 2019 | |
| 5.8″ | OLED, 60 Hz | A11 Bionic | 3 GB | 64 GB – 256 GB | 12 MP | 2× | 2,716 mAh | 174 g | Nov 2017 | |
| 6.5″ | OLED, 60 Hz | A12 Bionic | 4 GB | 64 GB – 512 GB | 12 MP | 2× | 3,179 mAh | 208 g | Sept 2018 |
Previous model: iPhone X. Newer model: iPhone 11 Pro.
Sources
- support.apple.com/en-gb/111881
- apple.com/uk/newsroom/2018/09/iphone-xs-and-iphone-xs-max-bring-the-best-and-bi…
- gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_xs-9318.php
- ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone+XS+and+XS+Max+Teardown/113021
Photo: cdsassets.apple.com
