Apple discontinues iPhone X and any iPhones left with headphone jacks

Less than one year since it was released, Apple has discontinued the iPhone X with the introduction of its three new iPhones today. With the iPhone XS starting at a price of $999, and the addition of the cheaper $749 iPhone XR announced today, the iPhone X has become redundant. The iPhone SE and 6s have been removed from Apple’s website as well, marking the end of iPhones with headphone jacks.

Despite rumors of low sales since its launch, Apple earnings showed that the iPhone X actually sold quite well. CEO Tim Cook said in February, “iPhone X surpassed our expectations and has been our top-selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November.” Still, with the new iPhone XS, XS Max, and iPhone XR, it makes sense for Apple to remove the iPhone X from the lineup. Though the iPhone X, SE, and 6s have all been removed from the US market, it doesn’t rule out the sale of these older devices in developing markets like India.

There’s no longer a good reason to shell out for the more expensive iPhone X, except maybe the exclusivity of owning a phone that was ushered in with the 10th anniversary of the original iPhone. It was the first to introduce the now-ubiquitous notch that’s influenced the entire mobile industry with a wave of copycat designs, and the first iPhone with Face ID. It introduced intuitive gesture controls and with the phone came wireless charging, plus AirPods. It definitely wasn’t a perfect phone; the lack of a headphone jack still bothers me and I take plenty of accidental screenshots daily with my iPhone X. But now that it’s being discontinued, I might try to hold onto it for a little longer.