By Apple has raised eyebrows and skepticism with the announcement of iPhones 8, 8 Plus and X.
The iPhone 8 will cost $699, the 8 Plus will cost $799 and the iPhone X will be sold for $999. I honestly think the prices should start at around $499, but I understand that Apple is a company with prestige and the prices are similar to flagships from LG and Samsung.
One of my biggest concerns is the iPhone X’s 5.8 inch OLED screen. This should be good news for content consumers since OLED screens are usually brighter and more vivid than LCD screens. But even though Apple says this OLED screen gives realistic colors, these displays usually don’t. So if you’re trying to get lifelike photos and videos, they may not look accurate on the iPhone X.
Because the home button is gone, users are going to have to get use to swiping from the bottom of the screen to access the home screen. Swiping from the top-left shows notifications, while swiping from the top-right shows functions like the wi-fi and flashlight.
I’m more skeptical about how the iPhone X uses facial recognition instead of their Touch ID fingerprint sensor. I don’t think there’s any benefit to using the face instead of the fingerprint. Having to point the phone at my face every time I use Apple Pay seems awkward compared to just resting my thumb on the home button. The fact that this feature requires scanning multiple angles of your face gives me hope that it should technically work fine at least. For those who need more accurate colors, the iPhone 8 has a 4.7 inch LCD screen while the iPhone 8 Plus has a 5.5 inch LCD screen. Although these two screens have lower resolutions than competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6, they seem similar to the ones on current iPhones, which are crisp displays.
Accident-prone customers may want to be wary that all three phones have backs made of glass, which is much more fragile than aluminum.
As a photographer, what interests me most about the iPhone 8 Plus and X is that they have several lighting modes, including a “Stage Light” mode, where it completely darkens the background in order to focus more on the face.
In terms of speed, all three phones use Apple’s new six-core A11 bionic processor with the company’s M11 motion co-processor for faster performance. The benefit to having the faster processor is that they usually are fast enough to run new iPhone software updates for at least four years after it is released in a new iOS product. Aside from speed, the new processor in the iPhone X lets users record your facial expressions and voices for Animojis, animated emojis you can send to friends.
Other niceties are that the three phones have stereo speakers and IP67 waterproofing. All three phones will also have Qi wireless charging.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus start on Friday and the phones will go on sale on Sep. 22. Pre-orders for the iPhone X will start on Oct. 27 and the phone will be released on Nov. 3.
So, what do I think of these three new iPhones? The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are no surprises, but they are good, safe choices for those looking for a new smartphone. They have faster processors and better cameras on paper. The iPhone X definitely looks like a good phone, but I’m not sure if its extra features are worth asking $200 more than a iPhone 8 Plus costs.
