The new iPhone X (pronounced iPhone ten) is a gigantic leap forward when it comes to smartphones. It introduces an all new design and is packed with new technologies. While it shares some basics with the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus – things like the glass back and the new A11 Bionic chip, there are quite a few things that are unique to the top of the line iPhone.
The iPhone X starts at $999 for the 64 GB model. It will be available on November 3rd.
Here are the new features that are exclusive to the iPhone X.
1. Super Retina OLED Display
A first for the iPhone line, the iPhone X has an AMOLED display. It stretches 5.8 inches diagonally, has a resolution of 2436×1125 with a pixel density of 458 PPI.
2. HDR
And it’s not just about the quantity of the pixels but also the quality. The screen supports HDR (including Dolby Vision HDR). This means vivid colors and details that just aren’t visible on a normal screen.
3. Curved Screen Edges
While the materials used in the iPhone X are the same as the iPhone 8, the shape of the body is different. Of course, there’s the notch at the top but what’s more interesting are the curved edges and how they’re seamlessly cut out for both the aluminum and the screen. This is a curved screen edge are a first for any iPhone.
4. Face ID
There’s no Touch ID on the iPhone X. This time, authentication takes place using the new Face ID system. It’s a package of camera and sensors that sit in the notch at the top. And the system is truly sophisticated. Face ID system works based on the TrueDepth camera system.
It’s made up of a dot projector, infrared camera, and a flood illuminator. The flood illuminator throws the light to illuminate your face. The dot projector matches the 30,000 invisible dots on your face to authenticate you. Then the IR image and the dot pattern are sent through a neural network to create a mathematical model of your face. This is then checked with the face you used to set up Face ID. All this data is saved in the Secure Enclave (which means it’s rendered useless if the iPhone is taken apart).
All the processing takes place the iPhone and no data is sent to a server.
Face ID also works based on attention. It only works when you’re actively looking at the iPhone screen.
Apple has also made sure that the system can’t be fooled by a photo of your face (or even a high-quality 3D mask).
5. Portrait Mode Selfies
Thanks to the TrueDepth camera sensor, the front facing camera on the iPhone also has a Portrait Mode feature for selfies. The front facing camera is a 7MP unit. It also supports Portrait Lighting feature which lets you change the background lighting on a whim (with a live preview).
The iPhone 8, on the other hand, comes with the good old FaceTime HD camera.
6. OIS in Dual Cameras
The rear camera system in the iPhone X is slightly better than the ones iPhone 8. The 12MP dual cameras (f 1.8 and 2.4 aperture) have dual optical image stabilization. That’s right, even the telephoto lens gets OIS this time around. Now, zoomed in videos and low light photos will be a lot crisper (with way less noise).
The secondary 12MP telephoto lens on the iPhone 8 also continues to have a smaller f/2.8 aperture.
7. Animoji
Apple is adding a dozen or so animated emoji characters that change their expression based on yours. They only work in the Messages app. You can take a still photo or record a video as an animated character along with the sound.
8. Gesture Based Interface
There’s no Home button on the iPhone X. This means a new method for everything from unlocking your phone to paying using Apple Pay is different.
To Unlock: To unlock the iPhone, just swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
To go to Home screen: When you’re in an app, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to go back to the Home screen.
App Switcher: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause momentarily in the middle of the screen to bring up the App Switcher.
Recent Apps: Just swipe horizontally in the bottom area of the iPhone to switch between the recent apps.
Control Center: Swipe down from the right side of the notch (where you’ll find the battery and signal bars) to bring up the Control Center.
Siri: Tap and hold on the button on the side to bring up Siri.
Apple Pay: Tap on the side button twice to bring up Apple Pay.
9: Improved Battery Life
This is not a big banner feature but thanks to the new processor and the OLED screen, the iPhone X offers 2 more hours of battery backup compared to the iPhone 7. For many users, this might alone be worth the asking price for the iPhone X.
What do you think of the new iPhone X? Do you think it’s priced right for what it is? Will you be buying it when it comes out? Share with us in the comments below.
