When you first hear the names of Apple's new iPhones -- the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max -- you may have some questions. Where's the iPhone X? And what makes the iPhone Pro... Pro? What happened to last year's XS and XS Max? This year's new phones are polished sequels (literally and figuratively) to the three we got last year. For some people the iPhone 11 just needs to be better than the XS. And it indeed is. But for others, it's nice to know where Apple stands in the larger landscape of phones. There are wild 5G speeds on the horizon, plus bizarre and expensive foldable phones like Samsung's Galaxy Fold. And then there's the more expensive $799 (£669, AU$1,049) Google Pixel 4, which actually makes the $699 (£729, AU$1,199) iPhone 11 look like an even better value.
Read more: iPhone SE 2020 review
Apple did a great job with new features, including some serious camera improvements like Night Mode for taking photos in dimly lit situations and Deep Fusion, a new way for the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro to process photos taken in situations where the lighting is bright enough for you to see, but nothing like being outside on a sunny day.
Read: iPhone 11 vs. iPhone 11 Pro: Important differences to help you decide which one to buy
But there's a good reason why the company named its more expensive and fancier phones "Pro" this year: Price. Apple is smartly targeting the $699 iPhone 11 as the phone for most people, in the same mold as the iPhone XR ($599 at Apple) last year.
While the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max (left and top) have three 12-megapixel cameras, the iPhone 11 (right) has only two.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Essentially, the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro are 85% the exact same phone. If you want a dedicated telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom, different size options, a better screen and finish, you're going to pay 30% more. That is not to say the $999 iPhone 11 Pro and $1,099 11 Pro Max aren't great phones. It's just that the iPhone 11 is actually that good. And that is why Apple's "value" phone with its wonderful cameras, solid build (which survived CNET's drop and water tests) and iOS 13.2 earns the iPhone 11 a CNET Editors' Choice Award.
Still starts at 64GB
The $699 iPhone 11 model gets 64GB of storage, which is probably fine for many people -- and it's a $50 price drop from last year's iPhone XR base model. 128GB for $749 probably makes more sense if you're shooting any video and 256GB for $849 should only be a consideration if you're shooting a lot of video. The Pro phones add a 512GB tier that you won't need unless you're shooting in 4K for a living. See the chart at the bottom of this review for complete pricing details, including UK and Australian prices.
Read more: Steven Soderbergh might need to upgrade to the iPhone 11 Pro for his next film
Colors: iPhone 11 is the fun phone
For whatever reasons, Apple is still making the lower-priced iPhone 11, the one that comes in fun colors. There are two new colors, called green and purple, that are more like mint green and lavender. These new pastel colors replace the blue and coral options from last year.
I have the green iPhone 11. Its color is pleasant, and the aluminum case color is much closer to seamless with the glass color. The glossy glass back feels the same as last year's XR. So does the rest of the phone -- except for the dual cameras, which are raised up from the back and placed in a frosted glass camera square.
In contrast, the iPhone 11 Pro models all have metallic shades: silver, space gray, gold and a military-esque midnight green. The three cameras seem more industrial (maybe imposing). The back glass is matte, instead of glossy. They're made of steel instead of aluminum. And the Pro phones feel significantly denser. They pack larger batteries, and the steel adds weight.
I like that the iPhone 11 follows in the footsteps of the iPhone XR and is the middle-size phone again with a 6.1-inch screen -- compared with the two iPhone Pro models at 5.8 inches and 6.5 inches. I've come to favor the smaller iPhone 11 Pro, like the iPhone XS last year.
Cameras
Over the past few years, Apple has made impressive strides in camera quality, but so have many other phone makers like Samsung, Huawei and Google. The camera arms race is something that hard-core photographers study closely, but I'd argue it's gone way past what most people need. The iPhone 11 cameras are some of the best for photos and video capture that you can buy today.
The iPhone 11 can switch between a wide angle and ultrawide-angle lens. The iPhone 11 Pro can do the same, but also offers a telephoto camera to get closer to your subject.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The 11 comes with a new ultrawide-angle camera, Night Mode for low-light photography, Deep Fusion processing for better indoor shots, faster autofocus and overall sharper images with more accurate color reproduction. For a more in-depth look at the camera differences between this year's iPhone and last year's, read our iPhone camera comparison between the iPhone 11 with Deep Fusion and the iPhone XR. The ultrawide offers a radical change in perspective that can be dizzyingly unique visually. This won't become your go-to camera, but it's just a blast to use.
