Advanced iPhone X Design Holds Spotlight

Advanced iPhone X Design Holds Spotlight at Steve Jobs Theater Debut

iPhone

For the first time Apple on September 12th held the iPhone X Spotlight at Steve Jobs Theater. The iPhone X is a sensational-looking iPhone  but it comes at a huge cost, and you’ll have to wait to get it.  Will Face ID become a way of unlocking the phone, but if your face truly does get ‘learned’ over time, it could work well.

  • Screen is stunning
  • New user interface is intuitive
  • Portrait Lighting is effective
  • Face ID was erratic in demos
  • Cost is so, so high

Let’s get the important bit out of the way first: the iPhone X is one of the most expensive flagship phones ever made. It’ll retail at $999 / £999 / AU$1,579 for the basic model. In terms of when you’ll be able to get your hands on it, the iPhone X release date has been set for November 3, with pre-orders going live on October 27. It’ll be coming to the major territories first, with the UK, US and Australia all tipped to be included in the first wave of shipments.

iPhone X Details

The resolution of the screen has been upgraded from the iPhone 7, as the sub-HD pixel count wasn’t really something Apple could hope to get away with in 2017 in the face of such strong competition from the rest of the industry.  The iPhone X has been upgraded to match its rivals, with a resolution of 2436 x 1125 on the new Super Retina HD display.

The ‘lip’ at the top of the phone, where a section of the ‘all-screen’ display was cut out to place the cameras.  The True Depth camera at the top is needed for Face ID, so it makes sense that a small portion would need to be kept for all the technology – but it does ruin the aesthetic somewhat. The screen is 18:9 (although that’s not been confirmed by Apple) so a movie that’s in a standard 16:9 format won’t fill the display.

The new iPhone X is easily, easily the best-looking phone Apple’s ever made.  The rear, which is now glass, doesn’t feel as premium as the almost-ceramic metal of previous models, but it still feels solid and secure in the hand. The edges aren’t sharp, instead folding into the palm in a way that’s pleasant to hold.

Face ID is the major shift here to allow the iPhone to know it’s owner but can you reset it in the event it is being resold or given away.  iOS 11 is the operating system with new features that will improve things.  The cameras also provide excellent quality and depth but the big question is battery life which sucks the life out of a user.

You can even get a fast charger – 50% within 30 minutes from dead – but only with a USB-C cable. A USB-C to Lightning Cable retails for $25 (£25 / AU$35) on Apple.com, while a USB-C Power Adapter is available in a few sizes: 29W, 61W and 87W. And if you want it, the price of the cheapest adapter (29W) is $49 (£49 / AU$69) from Apple.

Pumping at the heart of the iPhone X is the new A11 Bionic chipset, designed to handle the heavy lifting the new iPhone is calling on it for.

Final verdict is whether you really want to drop $1,000.00 on a phone or wait for the prices to drop when the ‘s’ version is release in the September of 2018 as it has been done before.  The iPhone 7 still does the job for most folks as well as the iPhone 6s so you get a new tool at a high price.