The iPhone X is a testament to device longevity, and durability. I gave mine to a family member when upgrading to an Xs Max in Late 2018, who held onto it all these years through a few different protective cases. Today I got it back where it’ll remain in my collection, after they upgraded to a Lavender iPhone 17!

I still remember watching the iPhone event on a scorching humid late summer afternoon, feeling that Galaxy S8+ becoming increasingly obsolete with each passing minute. Even though I so badly wanted to make the switch, I hesitated – I was used to Android at the time. Changed my mind in January 2018.

My iPhone X still has 70% battery health on its original battery, the device has never been opened or serviced. What surprised me about the overall physical shape of the phone is how the back glass remains nearly scuff-free.

In today’s article, we’re gonna compare the several design iterations of contemporary iPhones through three devices:

• MQCT2LL/A – iPhone X, Silver, 64 GB (Sprint)
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• MQ0X3LL/A – iPhone 14 Pro, Silver, 256 GB (At&t)
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• MG1D4LL/A – iPhone Air, Sky Blue, 256 GB (T-Mobile)

Out of the box

While the colorful box art highlights the differences across different models, these three iPhones don’t look at all too different from each other on the surface – apart from size. It’s easy to forget the leftmost iPhone was a drastic departure from the original form factor that included a home button.

The iPhone X is docked at iOS 16.7.16 today, yet it receives the occasional security patch every now and again to my surprise. It brought to life the idea of an all-screen iPhone, which as Phil Schiller put it during the iPhone event in September 2017: “..It is beautiful to look at, it is incredible.. to hold. The display fits edge to edge, top to bottom, it goes into each corner where it follows the tight curve of the design.”

Unlocked and loaded

Where you start to notice the iterative difference across the three different iPhones: on the metal sides. The X has a more rounded edge which makes for a comfortable grip, the 14 Pro carries the design iteration introduced by the iPhone 12 Pro, which harkens back to the iPhone 4.

The iPhone Air has a more refined, professional look to its metal sides versus the 14 Pro, yet it looked phenomenal regardless. When they switched to a sharp corner design on the 12 Pro/Pro Max, I didn’t know a 12 Pro Max would feel uncomfortable to hold long term at the time I upgraded from an 11 Pro Max. That’s why I stopped getting a Pro Max, and spring for a 14 Pro. It’s nice to be back on a larger screen.

• Above, left: MWH12LL/A – 11 Pro Max, 64 GB, Gold, (Sprint)
• Above, right: MGAQ3LL/A – iPhone 12 Pro Max, 256 GB, Pacific Blue, (Sprint)

Charger ports & Speaker grilles

Lightning survived all the way up to 2022, present on the middle iPhone pictured. Nowadays, literally every phone (unless specified) is made with a USB-C port. Long gone are the days of proprietary phone connectors, Micro-B, the 30-pin, and other sorts of connectors on a smartphone.

Rear cameras

The X and later Xs & Xs Max kept the same design, while the 11 Pro Max introduced a raised square glass camera plateau which survived as a design into the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. The Air has an entirely new plateau where the camera sits, which makes it easier to hold and reminds me of the Motorola Droid X back from 2010. I genuinely like this design feature and hope it sticks.

Three iPhones, three designs

10 Years later, the screen still looks great

This was the very first iPhone (along with the 8 and 8 Plus) with a True Tone display. While every iPhone has this nowadays, it was a nice touch to have multichannel sensors adjust the color temperature + intensity of your screen to your ambient light environment. Like how paper reacts to different kinds of lighting, the idea is to make white colors on the screen appear more natural.

Part of what drew me to the iPhone X was the same reason I started trying Samsung Galaxy phones after trying all sorts of Android phones with an LCD screen – the OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) screen.

My first OLED device wasn’t a Samsung, but a Motorola Droid Razr Maxx from 2012 – but those became slow a year after they released. I stuck to Motorolas like I did to iPhones even before then, until the Droid brand started becoming less of a thing. I imagine there would have been a better experience on a Droid Ultra with the OLED screen versus the Droid Mini I could afford at the time with the LCD, but that was my last “Droid” phone. After, I had a VKworld VK6050, then an Oukitel K10000, an S7 Edge, and an S8+.

This new OLED screen immediately provided for a richer content experience on iOS, miraculously not acquiring any screen burn-in after a decade of active use.

In Conclusion

What Apple unveiled during that iPhone event in September 2017 not only revolutionized phones for the next 10 years, they coincidentally unveiled phones which hold up for those 10 years (or more) in the process.