Should I buy iPhone 11 or XR?

Price and Availability

Following past practice, Apple introduced iPhone 11 in 2019 but kept on the sale of older models at a lower price. It means that you can easily buy both models at Apple Stores or order them from Apple Official Website (The recommended method, if you want to stay home, stay safe and protect others as Corona Virus Pandemic is spreading all around the world).
iPhone 11 is essentially a newer version of the iPhone XR and share most features with its ancestor. Considering that the flagship iPhone costs AU$1,199 for the 64GB model, purchasing iPhone XR manufactured in 2018 will save you about AU$150. That makes the iPhone XR an absolute bargain.
While both iPhones may look identical, Apple improved 10 major features of iPhone XR to create iPhone 11, making it a future-proof smartphone.

Design and Build

Besides the camera bump and number of cameras, iPhone XR and iPhone 11 look identical. They are exactly the same weight and size and feature just the same 6.1" Retina Display. The only difference is the camera system at the rear, which makes it easy for you to identify them by the iPhone 11's extra camera and square bump. Apart from that and different color choices (The iPhone XR comes in a canary yellow, coral and blue, while iPhone 11 is shipped in vender, mint green and a pastel yellow) both iPhones look like twins.

Power and Speed

The iPhone 11 hides Apple's new bionic A13 processor inside which is proved to be faster than its rival, at least on paper. Meanwhile, iPhone XR features an A12 processor which well-known among the iPhone community for speed and stability. Since both cutting-edge processors run iOS 13 as smooth and as fast as the other, you'll not notice any speed difference in day-to-day tasks such as Web Browsing or running social media applications unless you unleash the beast within your iPhone by pushing it to the limits.

Camera

The camera system is where the iPhone 11 distinguished itself from other iPhones. Unlike the single camera in iPhone XR, iPhone 11 comes with a dual-lens camera system. Thanks to the extra ultra-wide with a 120-degree field of view, iPhone 11 takes sharper photos with finer details. While the older iPhones solely rely on the digital zoom, iPhone 11 can do 2x optical zoom in addition to 5x digital zoom inherited from iPhone XR. As an advantage, optical zoom preserves sharpness and resolution of picture and results in more natural-looking images. The new iPhone also comes with a Night Mode for capturing better shots in low-light environments. Add to that, Portrait Mode, Lighting Effects, "next-generation" smart HDR for photos, etc. that gives iPhone 11 the cutting edge.

Storage

If you are using your Phone to record 4K videos or as a photography device, you might need more storage than offered by iPhone XR. That's where iPhone 11 comes to rescue. Both iPhones are available with 64 GB or 128 GB of storage, but the iPhone 11 has an extra 256 GB option.

Battery

Because iPhone 11 features a slightly bigger battery size compared to the battery used on the 2018 model, when using iPhone 11, you could expect fewer charges and longer battery life. This is confirmed with formal battery life test results saying that iPhone 11 lasts up to one hour longer than iPhone XR.

Display

iPhone 11 and XR share the same 6.1-inch screen size and the same 828p resolution. Having the same bezels, same notches, and everything the same, the Retina Display of these iPhones are like two peas in a pod.

Water-resistance

iPhone XR is rated as IP67 for water and dust resistance. That means that you can use your water-proof iPhone XR at a maximum depth of 1 meter up to 30 minutes. Apple has increased the water-resistance rating of the iPhones to IP68 for iPhone 11. So, when using the newer iPhone, you can take photos 2 meters underwater for 30 minutes without breaking your smartphone.
Bearing in mind that iPhone XR and 11 have many specs in common, iPhone XR appears to be a decent yet cheaper choice for most people. But if the photography is important to you, or you need more computational power or storage, getting an iPhone 11 will worth it.