8 reasons why you should get the iPhone 7 instead of the new iPhone XR, XS, or XS Max

Despite paying significantly less for the iPhone 7, you still get to run the latest version of iOS, iOS 12. It includes better performance for older iPhones, as well as updates to the notifications system and other great tweaks that makes the iPhone operating system better and easier to use.

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are lighter than all the new iPhones, although the iPhone 7 Plus is heavier than the $1,000 iPhone XS.

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are also slightly thinner than all the new iPhones.

If you're not ready to adopt Face ID or the new gestures to navigate around iOS 12, the iPhone 7 phones still come with the good old-fashioned home button and Touch ID fingerprint sensor. They'll give you the classic tried-and-true iPhone experience, while the new Face ID and gestures could take some getting used to.

Significant strides have been made with the new cameras on the new iPhones with features like Smart HDR, but the iPhone 7 still takes great photos. The iPhone 7 Plus even comes with a dual-lens camera system, with one of the lenses donning a 2x zoom.

Surprisingly, the iPhone XR's 6.1-inch display will have a 828p screen resolution that's closer to the smaller 750p 4.7-inch iPhone 7 than the 1080p 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus. That means the iPhone 7 Plus has a sharper display than a brand-new iPhone with a larger display.

We have yet to see how that'll affect the viewing experience on the iPhone XR, but at least you'd know that the iPhone 7 Plus is technically sharper with a 1080p resolution.

In another surprise move, the iPhone XR doesn't come with Apple's 3D Touch feature, which lets you hard-press an app to get useful shortcuts. It might not be the most widely used features in the world, but 3D Touch users may want to avoid the iPhone XR and go for a phone with 3D Touch ... like the iPhone 7!

By selling the iPhone 7 with the A10 chip, Apple is essentially stating that it's still a top performer that matches its strict standards. In fact, my wife's iPhone 6S with an older chip is still running beautifully with iOS 12.