
The iPhone X - pronounced “ten”, not “ecks” - is the first drastically different iPhone, coming with an edge to edge OLED screen, wireless charging, facial recognition, augmented reality, no home button, and cameras with portrait lighting. The phone will be available for pre-order on October 27th, and will be shipped starting November 3rd. IPhone 8 models (8 and 8+) were also announced, available for pre-order September 15th and on sale September 22nd.
The OLED display gives the phone a brighter screen, richer colors, deeper blacks, more battery life, and the most durable glass in a smartphone yet. People won’t have to worry about bringing their long, flimsy cables everywhere they go, since the iPhone X charges wirelessly and lasts longer.
The home button - and Touch ID - is ditched in favor of Face ID (for the iPhone X). One can unlock his/her phone with a mere look, but a traditional passcode setting is still available. One of the best features Face ID lets users do is use Animoji. The phone is able to analyze one’s face as he/she speaks and display an emoji over it. The results is an emoji “speaking” the exact same words. This leads to some very weird, sometimes funny, text messages. Receivers, if they don’t have the iPhone X, will be able to view it, but not send one of their own.
When taking a picture or video on either model, an option is open to add virtual objects through augmented reality. Pictures will become more interesting with an extra virtual “flower”, “dog”, or even a “dinosaur”. New cameras have been added to the iPhone X, giving users the option of “portrait lightning”...cameras on back are aligned vertically...optical image stabilization offsets shakiness...front cameras now support portrait mode.
The handling of the phone has changed as well. Since the home button is gone, a little bar at the bottom of the screen is used to switch between apps, and the control center (now customizable) will be opened up by swiping down from the top. The only sad news is that the starting price is $999 for 64 GB ($1,149 for 256 GB).