10 years ago, Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone and now Apple is reinventing the wheel with the launch of the iPhone X. Apple calls the iPhone X, “The Future of smartphones”. Here’s everything you need to know about the all new iPhone X.
I discussed all about the iPhone X in my Andro Dollar Reacts video, so check it out to see my impressions.
Let’s talk about the iPhone X in detail now.
We already got to know everything about this device in the leaks and I even made a video about it over at my YouTube channel, ahead of its official announcement.
The standout design feature of the iPhone X is the edge to edge OLED display filling the front of the device. The resolution stands at 2436 x 1125 pixels, while the panel itself measures 5.8 inches in diagonal.
Apple calls this the Super Retina Display and Apple has also thrown in its True Tone display technology, borrowed from the iPad Pro. What this means is that the iPhone X will automatically adjust the color temperature of the screen depending on the lighting around you. HDR10 and Dolby Vision support are present, letting you enjoy those gorgeous high dynamic range videos.
As for the body of the iPhone X, it is built with a stainless steel frame and a reinforced glass at the back – the strongest glass on a phone, Apple claims. Using glass instead of metal is one of the keys to enabling Qi wireless charging on the device. As before, the smartphone is resistant to dust and water damage and features stereo sound through its built-in speakers. Curiously, the power button on the right is elongated and a double-press acts as a shortcut to Apple Pay. You can also press and hold to activate Siri. In case if you’re wondering, there is obviously no headphone jack.
The iPhone X will be available in two colors: space grey and silver. Here is what they look like:
Since the screen occupies all of the iPhone X’s front, there’s no traditional home screen button. There’s no more Touch ID for unlocking either. Instead, the phone uses a new technology called Face ID and a new TrueDepth camera system. The iPhone X uses an advanced array of sensors and software to recognize its owner’s face. Readings are performed in three dimensions, which is why fooling Face ID with a mere photo would be difficult. There’s a One in a Million chance that a random person would be able to unlock your iPhone X through Face ID. Naturally, this feature will be used instead of Touch ID for authentication while using Apple Pay.
The omission of a home button brings forth a new way of unlocking the iPhone X – tapping on the screen now wakes the device. But as before, you can also just bring up the phone to unlock it. More interestingly, swiping up from the bottom takes you to your home screen, and once you’re in an app, a flick upward would take you back to the home screen.
On the topic of software, Apple is introducing a new feature called Animoji with the iPhone X. Think of these as animated emoji, but here’s where things get interesting. Using the advanced array of face-scanning sensors at the front, the iPhone X can animate the cartoon character to match your facial expressions and speech. These fun-looking Animoji will be available in iMessage and will let you interact with your buddies in a cool new way.
Powering the iPhone X is the all new Apple A11 Bionic chip with a six-core SoC comprised of two high-performance and four low-power cores, all of which can run at the same time. The high-power cores are 25 faster than those on the A10, while the power-saving ones deliver 70% more performance. Apple brags about its in-house-developed GPU as well – 30% faster than the previously used design. The Apple A11 Bionic does not only deliver the performance that next-generation games would require. It also powers a number of forward-looking applications, including machine learning and augmented reality processing.
Storage starts at 64GB for the iPhone X. For those demanding extra space there’s a 256GB model as well. The iPhone X packs 3GB RAM as well.
The camera of the iPhone X is another major highlight. At the back we have a dual camera arrangement similar to that of the iPhone 8 Plus, with a regular 12MP F1.8 camera for all conditions and a 12MP F2.4 2X zoom telephoto lens. The sensors are bigger and faster than the ones the previous-generation iPhones used, which enables cool tricks like 4K video recording at 60 frames per second. What’s also new is the addition of optical image stabilization to both camera modules. The result – clearer images, even when zooming in low light.
Portrait Mode is on board, along with new real-time lighting effects allowing you to dramatically alter the look of your subject. The trio of images below demonstrate how a regular photo compares to one with a Dramatic effect applied. And the effect on the right is called Stage Light, separating the subject and placing it against a flat, black background. For the first time on an iPhone, Portrait Mode is enabled on the 7MP front-facing camera as well. In this case, the TrueDepth camera is used in tandem with the standard one to separate subject from background and to apply bokeh or lighting effects to the image.
Apple did not reveal the actual charge capacity of the iPhone X battery. They said that it “should last 2 more hours than an iPhone 7”. Two charging features are available on the iPhone X. One of them is quick charging: 30 minutes on the charger gets you topped up to 50%, and presumably a more powerful charger is bundled in the set. Second is, wireless charging. The iPhone X supports the popular Qi wireless charging, so there’s already plenty of charging mats that will work with it. Apple has its own. Known as the AirPower mat.
The price of the iPhone X is where a lot of people will get a shock. It will not be cheap. It will start at $999 at launch for the base 64GB model, making it $300 more expensive than the base iPhone 8. The 256GB variant is priced at $1149. You can place your pre-order on October 23rd and it will be available to buy on November 3rd.
