Apple received approval from the Federal Communications Commission to sell the iPhone XR in the United States, ahead of pre-orders slated from October.
The company can now remove the following fine print from the iPhone XR product page on its website, although it has yet to do so:
iPhone XR has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. iPhone XR is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.
iPhone XR pre-orders begin Friday, October 19, with the first deliveries to customers and in-store availability starting a week later, on Friday, October 26. The handset starts at $749 in the United States.
While the iPhone XR is priced around $250 cheaper than the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max, it also features an LCD rather than OLED display, an aluminum instead of stainless steel frame, and a single rather than dual rear camera.
Still, the iPhone XR arrives with the same A12 Bionic chip found in the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, and its advertised battery life is longer than both of those devices. The handset also features a nearly edge-to-edge display with a notch, Face ID, a glass back, wireless charging, Portrait Mode with Depth Control, and Smart HDR.
As far as FCC approval is concerned, it is a routine step before the launch of any new iPhone. However, Apple usually waits until the last minute to receive approval from the necessary regulatory agencies, whereas the iPhone XR has been somewhat surprisingly approved nearly a month ahead of sale.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.