After months of leaks, Apple has finally announced its latest iPhone lineup. At a launch event in California, the tech giant unveiled three new iPhones — Apple iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max along with the iPhone XR. Among the three new phones, the iPhone XS and XS Plus are the successors of the iPhone X that was launched last year.
The iPhone XS features a 5.8-inch display while the XS Plus has a 6.5-inch display. The company is calling this OLED HDR screen as Super Retina, which provides a pixel density of 458ppi. Apple also says that it has 60 percent greater dynamic range for better colors. It is also a 3D Touch pressure-sensitive screen.
Both the phones are powered by Apple A12 Bionic chipset, which is manufactured using the 7-nanometer process and promises to launch apps 30 percent faster than 2017 iPhones. The SoC has six-core CPU, quad-core GPU, and a dedicated neural engine. The company says that the new chipset can handle five trillion AI operations per second and should provide real-time machine learning.
It also comes with an improved camera configuration. There are two camera sensors on the back side, which includes 12-megapixel primary lens with f/1.8 aperture and a 12-megapixel secondary telephoto lens with f/2.4 aperture for lossless 2X zoom. On the front side, there’s a 7-megapixel snapper with f/2.2 aperture, coupled with IR camera to enable portrait mode. The Face ID feature, which unlocked the phone through facial recognition, also works faster.
The camera can detect people’s faces and bodies, and also offers an instant red-eye reduction. There’s Smart HDR which can identify highlights and find shadow detail. An interesting feature is that you can now adjust the depth of a portrait mode photo after capturing the image.
Both, the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, come in three storage options — 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB. The devices are also IP68 rated, which means that both phones are water-resistant and can survive in water up to 30 minutes in 2 meters depth.
Another major feature of the new iPhone is the support for Dual SIM cards through eSIM technology. While the addition of Dual SIM support may not be a big deal in the US, it’s a huge deal for Asian countries. A special model for China has support for two physical SIM cards.
Running on iOS 12, the new iPhone XS and XS Max has support for stereo sound with a wider stereo field than 2017 iPhones, claims the company. As for the battery, the company has not revealed specifications but says that the iPhone XS should last 30 minutes longer than iPhone X and the iPhone XS Max should have 1.5 hours longer battery life than the iPhone X.
The pricing for the iPhone XS starts at $999 while the iPhone XS Max starts at $1,099. Both the phones will be available in three color options — Space Grey, Silver, and Gold. The iPhone XS and XS Plus will be available for pre-order from Friday, and they will start shipping from September 21.
