The iPhone X (pronounced "iPhone Ten") is here and it is real. Apple CEO Tim Cook just unveiled the biggest redesign of the iPhone yet, at the 12 September event in the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple's brand-new campus.
As expected, the phone is dominated by a massive screen that takes up the entire front of the display. Just as on Samsung's Galaxy S8, the bezels are barely there, though the iPhone X has a slightly odd "cutout" at the top of the phone to allow for the front-facing camera and sensors. The lack of bezels means the phone isn't that much bigger than the iPhone 7.
The "Super Retina" display is 5.8 inches, with a 2436 x 1125 resolution - that works out to 458 pixels per inch, by far the highest ever seen on an iPhone. Phil Schiller also notes that it's an OLED screen, the first that's "good enough" for an iPhone. The screen supports HDR, and naturally includes 3D Touch technology and the "True Tone" display found on the iPhone 8 and iPad Pro.
To accommodate this giant display, Apple has ditched the home button and Touch ID. Users can raise the phone to wake it up, but they can also tap the screen to do the same.
Given that every iPhone has had a home button, this change might even be a bigger deal than the bigger screen. To get home, Apple has added gestures like the ones seen on the iPad for years — a swipe up from the bottom gets back to the home screen, while swiping up and pausing will bring you to the multitasking menu.
To access Siri, users can say "Hey Siri" or hold the side button, which Apple has enlarged. The phone is wrapped with stainless steel and has glass on the front and back; surprisingly, it comes in only two finishes: silver and black.
To replace Touch ID, the iPhone X is locked until the user look at it and it recognizes them. Apple is calling this "Face ID." It uses the front-facing camera as well as other sensors, including an infrared sensor, flood illuminator and dot projector, to unlock the phone. (Apple refers to it as a True Depth sensor.) It'll update face scan frequently to account for changes like haircuts, hats and beards. Schiller says it's a one-in-a-million chance that someone else's face would unlock the phone, as compared with one in 50,000 for Touch ID.
Face ID will also let users authenticate Apple Pay purchases - by clicking the side button twice and looking at the screen, the phone will make the desired payment. And Apple's also using the True Depth sensors to let users create and share animated emojis. The company is starting with a dozen different emojis (most of them animals) that they can animate using their face.
As for the camera, it's a dual camera, much like that on the iPhone 8 - it has dual 12-megapixel sensors with a f/1.8 aperture on the wide end and f/2.4 on the telephoto lens. The big thing to note here is that both lenses have optical image stabilization, while the iPhone 8 Plus has only OIS on the wide-angle lens. It also features factory calibration on the cameras, for augmented reality, as well as the new software-enhanced "Portrait Lighting" mode found in the iPhone 8 Plus.
The processor is the same as the A11 Bionic chip found in the new iPhone 8, and it sounds like a big step up over last year's processor. It's a six-core CPU, with two high-performance cores. Those high-performance cores are 25 percent faster than the A10, while the four high-efficiency cores are 70 percent faster than the A10. Apple also designed the GPU for the first time and says that its optimized for the company's Metal 2 graphics framework.
Despite all the new features and power of the A11 chip, Schiller says that the phone should last two more hours than the iPhone 7. Like the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, the iPhone X will also include wireless charging for the first time. To facilitate wireless charging, the entire iPhone lineup now has glass backs, just like the iPhone 4 and 4s had many years ago. Somewhat surprisingly, Apple is using Qi, one of the biggest open wireless charging standards. That means that plenty of wireless charging pads out there should work with the iPhone X right out of the box.
One of the biggest questions about the iPhone X has been its cost. It'll start at US$ 999 for 64GB, and the 256GB model will likely run an extra US$ 100. Pre-orders start on October 27th, and the phone will begin shipping on November 3rd.
As expected, the phone is dominated by a massive screen that takes up the entire front of the display. Just as on Samsung's Galaxy S8, the bezels are barely there, though the iPhone X has a slightly odd "cutout" at the top of the phone to allow for the front-facing camera and sensors. The lack of bezels means the phone isn't that much bigger than the iPhone 7.
The "Super Retina" display is 5.8 inches, with a 2436 x 1125 resolution - that works out to 458 pixels per inch, by far the highest ever seen on an iPhone. Phil Schiller also notes that it's an OLED screen, the first that's "good enough" for an iPhone. The screen supports HDR, and naturally includes 3D Touch technology and the "True Tone" display found on the iPhone 8 and iPad Pro.
To accommodate this giant display, Apple has ditched the home button and Touch ID. Users can raise the phone to wake it up, but they can also tap the screen to do the same.
Given that every iPhone has had a home button, this change might even be a bigger deal than the bigger screen. To get home, Apple has added gestures like the ones seen on the iPad for years — a swipe up from the bottom gets back to the home screen, while swiping up and pausing will bring you to the multitasking menu.
To access Siri, users can say "Hey Siri" or hold the side button, which Apple has enlarged. The phone is wrapped with stainless steel and has glass on the front and back; surprisingly, it comes in only two finishes: silver and black.
To replace Touch ID, the iPhone X is locked until the user look at it and it recognizes them. Apple is calling this "Face ID." It uses the front-facing camera as well as other sensors, including an infrared sensor, flood illuminator and dot projector, to unlock the phone. (Apple refers to it as a True Depth sensor.) It'll update face scan frequently to account for changes like haircuts, hats and beards. Schiller says it's a one-in-a-million chance that someone else's face would unlock the phone, as compared with one in 50,000 for Touch ID.
Face ID will also let users authenticate Apple Pay purchases - by clicking the side button twice and looking at the screen, the phone will make the desired payment. And Apple's also using the True Depth sensors to let users create and share animated emojis. The company is starting with a dozen different emojis (most of them animals) that they can animate using their face.
As for the camera, it's a dual camera, much like that on the iPhone 8 - it has dual 12-megapixel sensors with a f/1.8 aperture on the wide end and f/2.4 on the telephoto lens. The big thing to note here is that both lenses have optical image stabilization, while the iPhone 8 Plus has only OIS on the wide-angle lens. It also features factory calibration on the cameras, for augmented reality, as well as the new software-enhanced "Portrait Lighting" mode found in the iPhone 8 Plus.
The processor is the same as the A11 Bionic chip found in the new iPhone 8, and it sounds like a big step up over last year's processor. It's a six-core CPU, with two high-performance cores. Those high-performance cores are 25 percent faster than the A10, while the four high-efficiency cores are 70 percent faster than the A10. Apple also designed the GPU for the first time and says that its optimized for the company's Metal 2 graphics framework.
Despite all the new features and power of the A11 chip, Schiller says that the phone should last two more hours than the iPhone 7. Like the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, the iPhone X will also include wireless charging for the first time. To facilitate wireless charging, the entire iPhone lineup now has glass backs, just like the iPhone 4 and 4s had many years ago. Somewhat surprisingly, Apple is using Qi, one of the biggest open wireless charging standards. That means that plenty of wireless charging pads out there should work with the iPhone X right out of the box.
One of the biggest questions about the iPhone X has been its cost. It'll start at US$ 999 for 64GB, and the 256GB model will likely run an extra US$ 100. Pre-orders start on October 27th, and the phone will begin shipping on November 3rd.
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