By: Evan Marshall
Okay, I’ll admit. I’m a bit of an Apple fanboy. I use a MacBook and an iPhone and wouldn’t have it any other way. That is why I was so interested to learn more about Apple’s unveilings during their annual September event. This featured the (not-so-secret) iPhone X reveal but many other exciting products were announced by Apple during the event. Let’s look at what all was featured.
iPhone X
Apple’s “one more thing” may not have been a huge surprise, but it was well received nonetheless: The iPhone X (pronounced “ten”). With the new thin bezel and—gasp—no Home button, holding the iPhone X will feel like you’re holding a screen. That screen is 5.8 inches diagonally and uses an OLED display instead of the LCD screen in past models. It’s got a resolution of 2436×1125, for a shocking pixel density of 458 PPI. Apple’s calling it Super Retina. Like the iPhone 8, it supports TrueTone to adjust the color temperature to the ambient light around you.
Apple will take pre-orders for the iPhone X starting Friday, October 27, and the phones ship November 3. iPhone X starts at $999 for 64GB of storage (the highest starting price of any iPhone to date), with a 256GB upgrade for $1149.
iPhone 8
Of course, the event’s big draw was the iPhone. Apple announced three new iPhone models—the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which are the follow-up phones to last year’s iPhone 7 and 7 Plus—and the futuristic iPhone X.
The 4.7-inch iPhone 8 still features the Home button, body bezels, Touch ID, Lightning port, and an LCD screen, but has some improvements, too. Namely: a glass back (like the iPhone 4!), wireless charging using the Qi standard, a TrueTone Retina display, and an A11 Bionic chip.
The iPhone 8 is available in silver, space gray, and gold, and goes on sale Friday, September 22 for $699 for 64GB, with a 256GB option too. Preorders begin this Friday, September 15.
iPhone 8 Plus
The 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus features all of the same specs as the iPhone 8, but with a much better dual-camera setup featuring f/1.8 aperture and f/2.8 aperture lenses (the iPhone 8 only has a single camera).
The iPhone 8 Plus has a beta feature called Portrait Lighting. You pose a photo, turn on Portrait Mode, and then the camera creates a depth map to pull the subject out of the background, then detects “facial landmarks” like your nose, forehead, and cheekbones, and then adjusts the lighting on all of them.
The iPhone 8 Plus is available in silver, space gray, and gold, and goes on sale Friday, September 22 for $799 for 64GB, with a 256GB option too. Preorders begin this Friday, September 15.
Apple Watch 3
The third generation of Apple’s smartwatch is the first that works independently from the iPhone. The LTE capabilities allow you to receive calls, messages, and alerts even when your iPhone is well out of range. This functionally adds no additional size to the watch itself.
Apple TV 4K
The Apple Tv got a 4K upgrade. The new Apple TV 4K adds support for 4K video as well as High Dynamic Range. Customers who already own HD movies in their libraries will receive upgrades to corresponding 4K versions at no additional cost. The Apple TV features live sports, live news, and Bluetooth 5.0.