Apple Reveals iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X

Apple announced three new phones in the company’s annual fall keynote on September 12, 2017, marking the next generational shift of the popular smartphone.

    While Apple made many other product announcements in September, the real highlight of the show was the unveiling of the next line of iPhones, starting with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.

    Apple decided against a mid-generational upgrade of the 7, instead going straight to the iPhone 8. Featuring the 70 percent faster A11 Bionic processor and 30 percent faster GPU, the iPhone 8 is Apple’s most powerful phone yet, with an updated Retina HD display to boot. Using Apple’s True Tone technology, the iPhone 8’s display will automatically adjust the screen’s color, temperature, and intensity to the ambient light around the phone.

    The iPhone 8 also boasts new stereo speakers that are 25 percent louder than the iPhone 7’s. The iPhone 8 has made major improvements to the camera as well. The iPhone 8’s 12-megapixel camera is larger and faster, allowing optical image stabilization and 4K video recording up to 60FPS. This camera is designed from the ground up for augmented reality technology, which software developers are sure to take advantage of in the future. Perhaps the biggest change to the iPhone 8 is its durable glass back that allows for wireless charging, a feature Apple hopes to become standard in the industry.

    The iPhone 8 Plus has all of the features of the iPhone 8, but with a higher-res 5.5 inch LCD display and an upgraded rear-facing dual camera with additional portrait lighting features.

    While an upgrade to the iPhone 7 in almost every area, the iPhone 8 has been criticized as a big enough jump, serving as more of an iPhone 7s than a new generation of iPhone. This criticism is just another reason to check out the iPhone X.

    Marketed as “The future of the smartphone,” the iPhone X builds upon the design of the iPhone 8 to create, according to Apple, the single greatest step forward since the original iPhone. Featuring an edge-to-edge, top-to-bottom screen with the same glass backing as the iPhone 8, the iPhone X’s design is centered around the fact that it is all screen. This 5.8-inch screen, which Apple calls a Super Retina Display, is an 1125x22436 OLED display with the highest pixel density of any iPhone. The first iPhone to use an OLED display, the iPhone X offers richer colors and better contrast, and features the same True Tone technology as the iPhone 8.

    In truth, the iPhone X largely has the same internals and features as the iPhone 8, but with a few stand-out tricks to cement itself as Apple’s smartphone of the future.

    The iPhone X’s bezel-less design even lacks a home button, highlighting the smartphone’s new Face ID technology. The phone’s front-facing Face ID sensors allow you to unlock the iPhone X just by looking at it, which Apple promises to be a far more secure system than the Touch ID systems of previous phones. This Face ID system also opens the door for interesting software features such as Animoji, emojis that replicate your facial movements for more personalization.

    On top of all of this, the iPhone X boasts a more durable design, improved water resistance, longer battery life, and more features in its dual camera than the iPhone 8 Plus’s.

    The iPhone X is priced at a hefty $999 for the base 64GB model, a large jump from the $699 price of the iPhone 8 and $799 iPhone 8 Plus. The wait will also be longer for the iPhone X as preorders being October 7th and the smartphone is set to release November 3rd. The iPhone 8 can be picked up as early as this Friday, or as early as anyone survives the inevitable line.