iShop Seychelles to introduce iPhone X in November |20 October 2017
On September 12, 2017, on the tenth anniversary of the release of the first iPhone, Apple broke from tradition and unveiled three separate iPhone models.
The new additions include two improvements to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, in the form of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, as well as an all-new iPhone X.
With Apple’s iPhone 8 and 8 Plus now available locally at iShop&Incipe and with the sales of iPhone X beginning in just a few weeks’ time, managing director Joel Stravens takes the opportunity to share a summary of their specifications.
iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus
Being a mixture of the iPhone X and the previous-generation iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, they act as a bridge for those who are not yet ready to live without the ‘home’ button but still want an improved design and software.
While the overall design is similar to that of the previous-generation devices, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have been improved with new glass bodies in a matching aluminium frame and are rated as IP67 water & dust resistant by the Ingress Protection rating system. Their stereo speaker systems have also been improved to be 25% louder with deeper bass.
The iPhone 8 continues to feature a 4.7-inch display, while the iPhone 8 Plus features a larger 5.5-inch display. Both have been upgraded with True Tone support, which has been designed to adapt colour temperature and intensity to the ambient light in a room for a more natural experience.
Both phones also come with a new Qi-based inductive wireless charging feature, which works by placing the devices over any Qi-certified inductive charger.
The inside of the phones have also undergone an overhaul with a new six-core A11 Bionic chip, which according to Apple is the smartest, most powerful chip ever introduced in a smartphone. There are two performance cores that are 25% faster than the A10 Fusion chip in the iPhone 7 and four efficiency cores that are 70% faster.
For the photographer enthusiasts, the phones boast improved cameras with better sensors and let in 83% more light into the wide-angle camera. A new image signal processor built into the A11 provides for better low light performance, including faster autofocus, with new pixel processing techniques for sharpness pixel texture.
Apple's Portrait Mode which was introduced last year in iPhone 7 Plus, has been updated with a new Portrait Lighting effect to dynamically change the lighting in an image to mimic studio lighting techniques. This feature is limited to the iPhone 8 Plus’ dual-lens camera system.
If you are more into videos, the new image signal processor and Apple-designed video encoder enables faster video frame rates and real-time image and motion analysis, which means that video capture on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus is better than ever, with support for 4K video at 60 frames per second, as is 1080p slow motion video.
Apple designed both phones with augmented reality (AR) in mind. The cameras are calibrated for AR; there is a new gyroscope & accelerometer to enable more accurate motion tracking; the A11 Bionic offers world tracking and scenes; the Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) renders realistic graphics and the image signal processor offers real-time lighting estimation. iOS 11 introduces hundreds of new AR apps designed using ARKit, all of which can be experienced on iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.
Photo Credit: The Verge
iPhone X
This is Apple’s flagship device, also known as the iPhone 10. It boasts all the improvements found in iPhone 8 Plus such as, wireless charging, iOS 11, improved dual-lens camera system and the A11 chip. According to Apple, iPhone X goes one step further where no other smartphone has gone before and introduces face scanning biometric security feature, named Face ID.
With Face ID, Apple has replaced its trusty Touch ID fingerprint scanner, which was embedded in the ‘Home’ button in its other models. The system is designed to unlock as soon as you make eye-contact with the iPhone X.
Face ID works by projecting 30,000 invisible infrared dots to create a 3D model of the users’ face. This can be used to login, authenticate contactless payments and unlock secure apps.
With its curvaceous glass design, it now boasts the largest display of the three new iPhones with a 5.8-inch edge-to-edge OLED Super Retina screen that has a pixel density of 458ppi, making it the sharpest and crispest display. It also has a small tab at the top of the display housing the front-facing camera and various sensors.
Apple is offering the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus in 64 and 256GB capacities and is available in three colours: Silver, Space Grayand a new Gold shade.The iPhone X is available in 64 and 256GB capacities, in either Silver or Space Gray colours.
References: MacRumours; The Verge