Apple says iPhone XR is 'best-selling' iPhone, as it promotes RED model to help fight AIDS

The iPhone XR has been the "best-selling iPhone each and every day since it became available for sale" on Oct. 26, Apple vice president of product marketing Greg Joswiak said Wednesday.

That means, when you compare the first month of sales, the $749 (on up) iPhone XR has outsold all other iPhones. That includes the pricier XS ($999 on up) and XS Max ($1,099) models that reached consumers a little more than a month earlier, as well as prior models still in the lineup, including the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.

That said, it's only been about a month, so how sales hold up throughout the year remains to be seen. (Not that Apple is likely to break with its practice and reveal specific sales numbers.) By way of comparison, though, last year's most expensive iPhone, the X model that was the first to crack $1,000, became the best-selling iPhone overall after its release.

Joswiak spoke to USA TODAY ahead of World AIDS Day on Saturday, to promote the (PRODUCT)RED version of the iPhone XR, which was released at the same time as the XR models in other colors. This was the first time the RED version was available at the launch of a new iPhone and beforeWorld AIDS Day.

While the phone is the same as other iPhone XR models—what's inside and how much it costs—the red version is different because Apple donates a portion of sales to the Global Fund's HIV/AIDS grants to provide testing, counseling, treatment and prevention programs, with a specific focus on eliminating transmission of the virus from mothers to their babies.

From Dec. 1 to Dec. 7, Apple says it will donate $1 to the charity for every purchase—from an iPhone to a Lightning cable—that's made with Apple Pay in an Apple Store, at apple.com or using the App Store app on your phone.

Apple has been teaming with the RED charity for 12 years and has raised more than $200 million, Joswiak said, through the sale of RED products including a special Apple Watch sport band, cases for iPhones and iPads, and Beats headphones and speakers.

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