Ten years ago, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone to the world. It changed what a smartphone should be. Apple led the way in terms of design and innovation back then. Now, Apple’s competitors caught up with the iPhone. The Galaxy S8 is the best phone to come out of Samsung. Xiaomi just keeps on rolling with the Mi MIX 2. Despite the poor sales of the G6, LG just put out their best foot forward with the V30. Unlike in the past, Apple needs to catch up and even surpass the competition. Meet the iPhone X.
Hello, iPhone X.
I’ll get this out of the way first: it’s pronounced iPhone “Ten”. I personally don’t like that because who doesn’t want a phone named iPhone X? Since Apple already has a history with Mac OS X, they just went with iPhone “Ten”.
The standout feature of the iPhone X BY FAR is the edge-to-edge display. Apple calls it the Super Retina HD Display. The iPhone X basically a 5.8″ OLED display with a resolution of 2436×1125. The display has an insane contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. It’s INSANE! This is, to my knowledge, the first edge-to-edge phone that has no chin or forehead. As known by a lot of leaks, the display has a “tiny space” up top. I personally don’t mind this design choice.
The lack of a home button seems intimidating at first. Good thing Apple made a simple gesture to get back to the Home screen: swiping up from the bottom of the screen. When you want to go to the App Switcher, just swipe up and hold to get there!
Did I mention that the Super Retina HD Display on the iPhone X also has True Tone technology from the iPad Pro? Now this iPhone can detect changes in ambient light to show proper white balance! I personally find it super cool!
Face ID is Official!
Apple removed Touch ID from this iPhone. People kept wondering what would be its replacement. Apple mentioned that in order to replace Touch ID, the replacement should be more efficient. Enter Face ID.
Face ID aims to do facial recognition right. Using more than just the front camera, it aims to unlock your phone just by looking at it! I know what you’re thinking: What if my friend tries to unlock my phone using a picture of me? That method DOES NOT work with Face ID! Here’s the plethora of sensors they crammed in that tiny space of theirs:
The infrared camera and the dot projector work hand-in-hand to scan the sides of your face. A picture does not have that. Apple even mentioned that the A11 Bionic chip (more on that later) has a dual-core Neural engine! It is the part of the chip enables the machine learning used to help with Face ID! You can do most of the things you did with Touch ID before using Face ID. One example is paying with Apple Pay.
I know that the implications of Face ID involve privacy and security concerns though. Despite that, I will reserve all judgement of Face ID until I am able to try it in person.
TrueDepth Camera!
Face ID is just one of the things that the TrueDepth camera can do!
Thanks to the TrueDepth camera, the iPhone X can do front camera Portrait photos! The TrueDepth camera can even do the new Portrait Lighting feature that’s also in the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus!
Thanks to the TrueDepth camera, you can also send animated emoji with your facial movements called Animoji! Yes, you can send a poop Animoji! This is really INSANE!
Wireless Charging!
Years after the phone industry introduced wireless charging, Apple FINALLY put it on the iPhone X! It supports the Qi wireless charging standard so most places with Qi charging mats will work with this phone.
Apple even announced a new wireless charging mat called AirPower! It can simultaneously charge up to three devices with wireless charging! This means that you can charge the iPhone X, Apple Watch, and AirPods (with the new wireless charging case) at the same time! Unlike the other announced devices, AirPower comes out in 2018.
Other Features of the iPhone X!
Here are the other features of the iPhone X that I couldn’t have time to expound:
- Dual 12MP cameras: one wide-angle with f/1.8 aperture, one telephoto with f/2.4 aperture; Both with Optical Image Stabilization (WOW!)
- 4K video recording at 24, 30, and 60 fps(!!!)
- 1080p Slo-mo video recording at 240 fps (!!!!)
- A11 Bionic processor with the Neural Engine and embedded M11 motion coprocessor
- IP67 certification (water and dust resistance)
- Claimed battery life is 2 hours longer than iPhone 7
- iOS 11
Release Details
The iPhone X comes in two colors: Space Gray and Silver. It costs $999 (around PHP 50,000) for the 64GB model and $1,149 for the 256GB model.
Preorders start at October 27th and will be available starting November 3rd in the following countries:
Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UAE, the UK, the US and US Virgin Islands
Are you excited for the iPhone X? Would you even consider buying this despite the high price? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
There was a time when I could not say no to any new Apple stuff released beginning with the iPhone 4. From then on, we bought the iPods, several more iPhones, iPads, MacBook Pros, etc. And then I realized that at the end of the day, it is the functionality that is important. How so, my kids have upgraded, but I still prefer to use the iPhone 5. Most of the time, it is on the table – unused. For content creation, I do use the Mac, and for consumption, the iPad remains excellent.
iPhone X is more a want rather than a need. So, to answer your question, the choice of buying it once it is available is dependent on economics. It has excellent features, as well as the other premium models from other brands. Are they essential at all?
I think the iPhone X is for people like me: the hardcore Apple fan who is ready for changes like this.
The iPhone lineup has expanded because Apple decided to keep the iPhone 6s series and iPhone 7 series.
I recently upgrade my i7 to ios11 so check out the features. Such wonderful updates. But I definitely am excited for this 10’th anniversary version of iPhone X (10). Pricey as it is, I am definitely not going for the pre-booking, because I want to check it’s reviews first :p
I can remember how our agents went gaga due to high chat volume inquiring about iPhone X. Haha! I am an iPhone user and this launch truly excites me, however, the whooping $1000.00 is something that I can’t afford! Lol! I love the innovative features and how Apple made every changes more sophisticated than before.
Yeah! I hope Globe and Smart can somehow make the price of the iPhone X more palatable. Hahaha
I must admit that the features is kind of impressive and will surely make someone want to upgrade. I have always been an Apple user from iPhones to Macbooks. I have upgraded to Iphone7+ and it works so well. I use it for work and for taking photos for the blog. I am still very much happy with it so I don’t really see myself upgrading anytime soon. 🙂