Probably the launch event of the decade, the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X (ten) were launched alongside each other and has been a complete game-changer for Apple. One of the first major overhauls for the new iPhones are the all-glass enclosures, a total drift from the iPhone 7 aluminum casing. Despite the durability issue noted with a similar glass casing in the iPhone 4, the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X claim to be water and dust resistant in addition to being the ‘most durable glass ever in a smartphone’.
The iPhone 8 and 8 plus have 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch displays respectively, as well as a Retina HD display, which Apple claims, offers the best colour accuracy in the industry; whereas the iPhone X brings with it an all new Super-Retina display, which makes it the highest resolution iPhone to date. All three models can be charged wirelessly using third-party charging pads.
Apple also gave a sneak-peak of the AirPower charging mat, set to launch in 2018 and can charge an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods at the same time. The virtual home buttons from the previous releases will stay the same for iPhone 8 and 8 plus, but the company has completely ditched this feature for the iPhone X, and has replaced the Touch ID with the ‘Face ID’ face recognition technology. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus will be available in black, space grey and a brand new ‘pink-tinted’ gold colour.
The iPhone 8 has a 12-megapixel camera with a larger and faster sensor, enabling faster autofocus in low light, along with 4K recording, the highest video quality yet in a smartphone, Apple claims. iPhone 8 Plus features dual 12-megapixel cameras, and includes a new Portrait Lighting mode, designed to make portrait shots stand out from the background, very much like the 7 Plus. On the iPhone X sits a vertically-aligned 12MP dual camera, made of dual telephoto and wide-angle lenses. There’s also a new Portrait Lighting mode for taking selfies on the 7 MP front camera, and an in-built optical image stabilisation.
The real-game changer for the iPhone, however, is the Augmented reality feature. The dual cameras on iPhone 8 Plus and X are custom tuned for Augmented Reality. Each camera is individually calibrated, with new gyroscopes and accelerometers for accurate motion tracking.
Prices for the iPhone 8 start at Rs. 64,000 for the 64GB version, going up to Rs. 77,000 for the 256GB version. The iPhone 8 Plus has priced Rs. 73,000 for the 64Gb version and Rs. 86,000 for 256GB variant. The iPhone X is priced at Rs. 89,000 for the 64 GB version and the 256 GB variant has been priced at a staggering Rs. 1,02,000.
Both the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus will available to pre-order from 15 September, with the devices shipping on 22 September, and pre-orders for the iPhone X begin on 27th October while the release has been slotted for a November 3rd release.
Despite the hype being generated around the launch event, not many expressed much excitement at the products, major reasons being the astonishing prices. Social Media platforms seemed to have a field day, with many taking to memes and hilarious one-liners to express their inability to purchase the phones. The controversy surrounding the huge internal leak went unaddressed by the Apple executives. It remains to see whether these latest launches will send sales through the roof, as it did with its predecessors.
