If you're still on the cycle of upgrading your old smartphone with whatever the the new one is every year, you may want to stop. That's the takeaway from a new comparison video on the EverythingApplePro YouTube channel.
In a side-by-side-by-side showdown between the iPhone X (2017), iPhone XS (2018), and iPhone 11 Pro (2019), the beefy newcomer and its shiny, new A13 Bionic processor is roughly comparable in performance – and sometimes even comes out on top! – to the 2018 model. The testing consists of clocking the time it takes to open various apps and running benchmarks.
Don't put too much stock in the performance lead. Yes, the XS outpaces the 11 Pro in some spots, but the lead is likely temporary. Apple only just released the latest line of iPhones, and forthcoming iOS updates are sure to bring optimized performance for all the new phones.
As the video points out, though, the bigger issue is RAM. Apple equipped the 11 Pro (and all versions of the 11) with 4GB of RAM, the same as the iPhone XS. The performance similarities could have more to do with memory limitations, especially since the testing focuses heavy on load times. All three of these devices are still top-of-the-line phones, of course, but these tests highlight just what "incremental updates" really means with the annual smartphone refresh.
