Apple today has unveiled its biggest and most expensive iPhones ever – the iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max and the iPhone XR – which all boast improved display technology, better cameras and a range of colours.
Apple revealed theses latest iPhones, along with the updated Apple Watch Series 4, at the Steve Jobs Theatre at the company headquarters in Cupertino.
CEO Tim Cook opened the event by announcing Apple was closing in on two billion iOS devices – iPhones and iPads – around the world.
The iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max will be available to preorder from tomorrow (September 14) and will go on sale on September 21.
Prices will start at $1629 (iPhone Xs) and $1799 (iPhone Xs Max).
The iPhone XR won’t be available to preorder until October 19 and will go on sale on October 26 with prices starting at $1,229 and available in six colours – white, black, blue, yellow, coral and PRODUCT(RED).
iPHONE XS and iPHONE XS MAX
The iPhone Xs is Apple’s most advanced iPhone ever – and also the most expensive.
The device, available with a 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch display, is made from surgical grade aluminium and includes what Apple says is the most durable glass ever used in a smart phone.
It will be available in three finishes – gold, space grey and silver.
The iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max feature Super Retina OLED displays which can support bothDolby Vision and HDR10 to provide the highest colour accuracy in the industry.
Users will experience true blacks and a million-to-one contrast ratio.
The iPhone Xs Max takes that even further with its 6.5-inch screen – the largest of any iPhone – with more than three million pixels.
Size-wise, the iPhone Xs is almost identical to the current iPhone X which is 143.6mm long, 70.9mm wide and 7.7mm thick with a screen resolution of 2436 x 1125 at 458 PPI (pixels per inch).
The iPhone Xs Max has about the same dimensions as the iPhone 8 Plus and is 157.5 mm long, wide 77.4mm and 7.7 mm thick with a screen resolution of 2688 x 1242 at 458 PPI.
The new iPhones also have a new level of water resistance at IP68 which means the device can go to a depth of 2m for up to 30 minutes so it can easily handle your everyday spills.
Under the hood is also where we see big improvements for the iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs with each sporting the new Apple-designed A12 bionic chip.
It is the first 7 nanometer chip ever used in a smartphone and has a six-core fusion architecture with two performance cores to deliver unprecedented performance and power efficiency.
On the battery side, Apple says the iPhone Xs will run 30 minutes longer than the iPhone X while the iPhone Xs Max extends the time between charges by more than an hour and half.
The 12-megapixel dual-lens camera system aboard the new iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max has also been significantly improved thanks to the on-board Neural Engine which provides features like advanced depth segmentation and smart HDR.
Portrait mode through either the front or back cameras is now even more advanced and even offers depth control so you can adjust the background blur.
Face ID is now even faster through the TrueDepth camera and goes beyond the security of two-dimensional face scanners.
It enables users to instantly unlock the iPhone as well as enable Apple Pay and access secure apps and many more features with a quick glance.
The iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max will also introduce Gigabit-class LTE and dual SIM support using a physical nano SIM and it embedded digital eSIM.
The new devices will be running the new iOS 12 operating system.
But these new devices are not cheap.
The iPhone Xs will be priced at $1,629 (64GB), $1,879 (256GB), $2,199 (512 GB).
The iPhone Xs Max will cost $1,799 (64GB), $2,049 (256GB), $2,369 (512 GB).
Pre-orders start tomorrow (September 14) and goes on sale on September 21.
iPHONE XR
Apple’s new iPhone XR integrates most of the technology of the iPhone Xs with a glass and aluminium design and the most advanced LCD display ever used in a smartphone.
The LCD screen is the most colour accurate in the industry with wide colour support and True Tone for a natural viewing experience.
The device, which isn’t available until October, has a 6.1-inch Liquid Retina display and comes in six different colours.
It is 150.9mm long, 75.7mm wide and 8.3mm thick with a screen resolution of 1792 x 828 at 326 PPI (pixels per inch).
The iPhone XR has an anodised aerospace-grade aluminium band with a glass back design.
It comes in six new finishes – white, black, blue, yellow, coral and PRODUCT(RED) which are made with a seven-layer colour process.
The device is splash and water resistant with an IP67 rating.
The iPhone XR has the same A12 Bionic chip as the iPhone Xs.
And because it doesn’t have a home button, the iPhone XR also uses the now faster Face ID to unlock the device and unable Apple Pay and numerous other features.
Also on board is an advanced single lens wide-angle 12-megapixel camera which delivers faster autofocus, superior lowlight performance and Smart HDR for better highlight and shadow detail.
The iPhone XR will also be running the iOS 12 operating system and feature dual SIM support using a nano SIM and a digital eSIM.
The iPhone XR will be priced at $1,229 (64GB), $1,299 (128GB), $1,479 (256GB).
Pre-orders start on October 19 and it will go on sale on October 26.