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Key Takeaways From Apple’s 2017 iPhone Reveal

CATEGORY: Blog, In The Know | DATE: September 12, 2017

The Breakdown

The  featured new iPhones:

We all knew iPhone 8 would be in the line up for the keynote today, and as history showed us, we also knew that there would likely be a slightly more robust version, iPhone 8 Plus, as well.

But what most speculated about, but had not completely confirmed, is that there would be a third, extra-special new iPhone to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the iPhone – the iPhone X. After much detail of the aforementioned iPhone 8 devices, we finally found out that it was true. The supposed “Future of the Smartphone” was also announced.

We detailed the key takeaways for these 3 new iPhones below. Take a look!

iPhone X (Pronounced iPhone Ten)

The future of the smartphone.

Details:

  • General Settings
    •  2 extra hours of battery life
    • No Home button, a single swipe takes you home, if you pause, you can navigate between open apps. Additionally, you can navigate between open applications by swiping from left to right along the very bottom of the screen.
    • New front and back glass design that is reinforced and “Most durable glass ever in a smartphone.” Is it possible that they have finally found a phone that won’t break the first time your phone falls from your grip in slow-mo to the concrete ground below?? Here’s to hoping! They mentioned this addition of the glass backing was so that the phone could have Qi, Airpower, wireless charging capabilities
      • This is apparently a charging standard for wirelessly charging devices so… nothing excitingly new there, but a cool feature nonetheless. Some earlier devices either already have this capability or are able to obtain it. Check out some of those devices here: Tech Advisor
  • Camera
    • Both front and back cameras have “portrait mode” with supposed portrait lighting features plus a few options to utilize in real time
      • This helps with the “professional quality” look in images, which was a welcomed feature in the iPhone 7 Plus…But now with it on the front-facing camera, it also helps up our selfie game, about time right?
  • Face ID recognition instead of TouchID fingerprint technology.
    • One of the biggest new features – Face ID supposedly works in the dark as well to unlock your phone. No bright beam of light shining in your face to recognize you either, thank goodness.

       

      • As with TouchID, it still allows for Apple pay.
      • With this new feature, they have also added a new form of emoji to work along with it calledanimoji which is an animated version of a dozen or so emojis. Yes, even the beloved “poop” emoji is included in that line up…
      • They used its system on professionally-made masks to ensure that it won’t work on anything other than a real face that is focused on the screen. They did make a comment that if you have an evil twin, you better set a passcode…
      • They did mention that the data for your face won’t be stored on any cloud but on the device itself. So, if you are worried about stolen face problems, you might be okay there. For more information about security concerns, Quartz addressed five here: Quartz.
      • *Side note, when demoing the new changes, Face ID failed the first 2 times it was tried. “Apple’s first Face ID demo failed, but it wasn’t Face ID’s fault,” according to the Verge.
      • Snapchat will also be integrating two special lenses to support the Face ID.
  • A11 Bionic Interior Chip
    • This new chip is the reason that they are able to power Face ID among other things.
    • According to Apple, this new anterior chip is the most powerful and smartest chip ever in a smartphone.” This is a pretty bold statement, I guess we will see how it holds up.

 

iPhone 8 and 8 Plus

Details

  • New iOS 11
    • Lets Siri be your translator
    • Pay friends in messages
    • Discover new music with friends in Apple music
  • Camera
    • iPhone 8 has a f/1.8 wide angle camera, while the iPhone 8 Plus includes the f/1.8 wide-angle as well as a f/2.8 telephoto lens that allows for optical zoom and the portrait mode like on the iPhone X
    • Higher resolution cameras with 12-megapixel sensors on the back camera and 7-megapixel sensors on the front
    • Video
      • 4K capabilities with 60fps video
      • Slow motion videos now support up to 1080p resolution at 240fps, which is twice as much as the iPhone 7 at only  120fps.
    • Designed for augmented reality 
      • Cameras specifically calibrated for AR and also come with a new gyroscope and accelerometer for better motion tracking
      • Good for games – or as featured in the commercial – watching your friends play basketball as though there is a giant t-Rex behind them
  • General
    • Faster processors
    • A11 Bionic Interior Chip 
    • Qi, Airpower, wireless charging capabilities
    • Redesigned glass exteriors
    • Speakers 
      • 25 percent louder If you are a music lover and were waiting for an exciting update, it looks like you may be out of luck…
    • True Tone display
      • It’s a similar feature like in their iPad Pro which automatically adjusts the screen based on the ambient light in the room to offer more accurate color
    • A couple things that stayed the same…although we wish they hadn’t.
      • The headphone jack is still non-existent…and we loved when the presenter mentioned something along the lines of “we still have the well-loved air pods.” Not so sure they are well-loved, but we may have warmed up to the idea more since its original announcement.
      • Water and dust “resistant” …notice they are not water or dust proof…so we, unfortunately, will may just have to continue breaking phones on vacation…

 

Interested in getting your hands on the latest iPhone? Check out the Pricing for each model below: 

The 64GB iPhone 8 will start at $699, the 64GB iPhone 8 Plus will start at $799. Both will be ready to pre-order this Friday, September 15.

While the 64GB iPhone X won’t start shipping until November 3 for $999 and pre-ordered will begin October 27.

Some of the older versions will also be getting a price cut:

  • iPhone SE – $349
  • iPhone 6s – $449
  • iPhone 7 – $549.

Share your thoughts with us! In case you missed the live stream #Appleevent you can watch the video recap on Apple’s official website. 

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