It’s been ten years since Apple announced the first iPhone, ushering in the age of modern smartphones. The company is celebrating this milestone with the launch of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the anniversary edition iPhone X (pronounced iPhone 10).
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus deliver the expected updates to the previous models, with a couple of outstanding features worth mentioning:
- A new six-core A11 Bionic processor with an Apple-designed GPU and a slew of other enhancements for display and video/audio capture that should also boost future generations of mobile games
- A 12MP camera with optical image stabilisation, now on both models. The Plus model offers f/1.8 and f/2.8 apertures. Both devices can now capture 4K video at 60fps as well as 1080p 240fps slow motion
- Wireless charging using the Qi standard
- As with previous iPhones, the 8 and 8 Plus are both waterproof.
Apple’s big step forward with their next generation of smartphones sees them embracing augmented reality. They refer to the 8 and 8 Plus as “the first iPhone really created for augmented reality, and the first smartphone as well”. Augmented reality can best be described as technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, providing a composite view. Think real-time stats over a sports game or injecting a CGI dinosaur running in between a family picnic.
iPhone X
The big news, though, is the special edition iPhone X. It showcases Apple’s latest technology, including an edge-to-edge OLED display, wireless charging and facial recognition security, along with a borderless screen. The new device sees Apple moving away from fingerprint authentication, instead replacing it with Face ID, which unlocks the phone just by having you look at it. It combines an IR system with the front camera and a so-called flood illuminator that beams a light at your face so it can be recognised even in the dark.
The iPhone X has dual 12-megapixel rear cameras, and it’s equipped with optical image stabilisation on both lenses. The sensors are both larger and faster than previous generations, says Apple, and the main camera has an f/1.8 aperture while the telephoto lens has an f/2.4 aperture. In between the two cameras is a quad-LED True Tone flash, claimed to provide scene illumination that is twice as uniform as previously. The new phone also offers 4K video recording and stereo speakers for better audio playback.
And finally, there’s the Animoji feature. Using the same face-mapping technology used for Face ID, iPhone X users can animate certain emoji, sending videos as if they were voicing an alien, a robot or a unicorn emoji, which looks like this:
