On Tuesday, Apple hosted its first-ever event at the new Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The company unveiled several new products at the event which included 4K Apple TV and the Apple Watch Series 3 which comes with a cellular connection. Of course, the highlight of the evening was the announcement of Apple’s new line of smartphones—the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and the tenth-anniversary phone aptly named the iPhone X (pronounced iPhone Ten).
The first iPhone launched on June 9th, 2007, with spectacular success. Ten years later, Apple is set to make waves yet again with the iPhone X. Packed with innovative new features, the flagship model phone will be a must-have for Apple enthusiasts and a new cash cow for the company.
Face ID
Previous speculations were indeed correct. With iPhone X, Apple decided to ditch Touch ID as the phone primary security feature. Instead, the new phone now sports an all-new Face ID system touted to be even more secure than the Touch ID it replaces.
So just how secure is iPhone X’s Face ID? The Touch ID fingerprint sensor comes with a one in 50,000 chance of a person other than you being able to unlock the device. With the new Face ID, however, the odds are now one in a million.
In fact, Apple is convinced that the new Face ID is so secure that it can be used to authorize purchases on Apple Pay. Since it uses a 3D sensing technology, the system cannot be fooled by a mere 2D photo of your face. In addition, the technology is advanced enough to recognize your unique facial features even if you’re wearing eyeglasses and a hat.
Apple got rid of the home button on the iPhone X — but you can use your face to unlock it with Face ID #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/8zDMOOUfhJ
— Ashley Richardson (@iashleyrichards) September 12, 2017
Ultra Sharp Edge To Edge Screen
The new iPhone X also comes with a vastly improved display resolution. It has a high resolution, 2436×1125 5.8 inch OLED display dubbed by Apple as a super retina display. To boot, the screen has over two million pixels, offering the sharpest display ever on an iPhone model.
What is even more exciting is the bezel-less display, allowing for a wider screen without any added bulkiness to the device. However, this also means that there is no longer a home button. To wake the phone, you’ll simply need to tap the screen.
New Cameras
The new iPhone X is also equipped with new cameras. The front camera is a 7 MP TrueDepth camera that Apple specifically developed not only for taking great selfies but also for use as the sensor of the new Face ID technology, Macworld reported.
At the back of the phone is a dual-lens 12MP camera complete with a wide angle lens to capture scenery and a telephoto lens if you need to zoom in on your subject. The new phone is said to be capable of producing the highest quality video on any available smartphone with improvements to its stabilization technology (new gyroscopes and accelerometers) resulting in less shaky outputs. You can now capture 4K videos at 60 fps or opt for a slo-mo 240 fps at 1080p.
Animoji Feature
If you’re the type of person who loves emojis, then it’s hard to ignore iPhone X’s cool new “Animoji” feature. The phone allows you to make brief clips of your face and turn them into instant emojis. With the Facial recognition capability of the phone, it can help make an emoji that best represents the facial expression you are making at the moment.
ICYMI: Apple just unveiled ‘Animoji’ — emojis that talk and sync to your face pic.twitter.com/NkgtB1wKbO
— Ashley Richardson (@iashleyrichards) September 13, 2017
Wireless Charging
Apple has finally embraced wireless charging technology for its latest products. The iPhone X, along with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, will be charged wirelessly using the Qi standard. Apple is tweaking the technology a bit and plans to later launch AirPower, an accessory that allows you to simultaneously charge three devices.
Charge your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods wirelessly with AirPower next year! pic.twitter.com/FuaGmn8nlD
— Watch Apps (@applewatch_apps) September 12, 2017
Retail Price
There are two variants to the iPhone X. The 64GB phone is priced at $999 while the 256GB variant sells for $1,149. A11 Bionic chip powers the iPhone X with its 6-core CPU design said to be the most powerful for a smartphone. Coupled with the three-core GPU designed by Apple, the phone is powerful enough for machine learning and 3D games.
Unfortunately, fans will have to wait a bit before they could get their hands on Apples tenth anniversary phone. The iPhone X released date is slated for November 3, 2017. However, Apple is accepting pre-orders starting October 27.
In the meantime, you might want to check out on the two other new phones unveiled by Apple. iPhone 8 has a 4.7-inch Retina display while the bigger iPhone 8 Plus has a 5.5-inch display. Both devices are available on September 22 but you can preorder as early as September 15.
[Featured Image by Apple/Youtube]