Entertainment
Apple’s brave new world
It was exactly 10 years ago that Apple introduced the first iPhone to the tech world. With its innovative approach and features that outdid any of the trending gadgets of the time, it pleasantly surprised most stakeholders,Bivek Khatiwada
It was exactly 10 years ago that Apple introduced the first iPhone to the tech world. With its innovative approach and features that outdid any of the trending gadgets of the time, it pleasantly surprised most stakeholders, with many tech experts even terming it a futile attempt. The same product went on to revolutionise the entire industry and transformed a venerable but niche firm into the most profitable company on the planet.
This year, to commemorate the iPhone’s tenth anniversary, Apple has added some new products to its lineup and you want to know all about them. Here are all the devices announced at the Apple event this year and a look into what they have in store.
iPhone X
iPhones are often criticised for failing to move with the flow of technological advancements. However, this year has been quite an exception. The iPhone X (pronounced “ten”) is the first smartphone to embrace facial recognition as the primary biometric security feature. With this feature, the iPhone X will be capable of detecting and analysing faces with a high degree of accuracy—regardless of the lighting conditions, changes due to hairstyles and facial hair, or the use of cosmetics or stimulus like eyeglass/hats.
Another eye-catching spec is the phone’s 5.8” OLED Super Retina Display. Offering the resolution of 2436x1125, this time Apple has managed to pack 458PPI pixel density in its edge-to-edge display. The edge-to-edge display however has forced Apple to remove the home button and Touch ID that came with all its previous devices.
This time around, the wireless charging system has been another note-worthy addition. For safe and efficient wireless charging, a glass panel is introduced on the rear panel. However, the charging will work only with certified wireless pads.
Powering the iPhone X is a hexa-core A11 Bionic neural processor. The processor includes two performance cores that are 25 percent faster, four high-efficiency cores that are 70 percent faster, a second gen Apple-designed performance controller that has 70 percent multi-thread workloads, and an Apple-designed GPU with 30 percent faster-processing speed. The new chipset included on the device flaunts high processing speed and power efficient operation.
At the event, the Iphone X’s camera received little limelight however the vertically oriented dual 12MP camera and a 7MP front facing camera is another vast improvement. The setup includes a wide-angle lens and a telephone lens with apertures f/1.8 and f/2.4 respectively. On the videography end, the phone is capable of recording 4K videos up to 60fps and 1080p videos up to 240fps frame rate. In terms of photography, both the cameras include Apple’s new Portrait Light mode, which alters the lighting conditions during a shot. Furthermore, with the advanced arrays of front-facing cameras and sensors, iPhone X is capable of capturing and translating the facial movements into animated emojis which are termed as Animojis.
To commemorate the iPhone’s tenth anniversary, Apple seems to have stacked the best features of its premium flagship. But this seems to have happened under market pressure. The highly advertised face recognition system took two attempts to unlock the device at the high-profile event. This has aroused suspicion over its functionality. Similarly, the OLED panel on the display will definitely bring true tone and punchy colours but the supply of OLED panel is from its arch-rival Samsung, so Apple has a little to take credit for it. The edge-to-edge screen has already been seen on many smartphones. But unlike other smartphones, the introduction of edge-to-edge display in the iPhone X took away the home button and fingerprint sensor in return.
The IP67 certified device comes at the staggering price of $999 for 64GB variant and $1,149 for the 256GB variant.
iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus
iPhones 8 and 8 plus were the other two phones announced at the event alongside the iPhone X. However, the fawning over the company’s premium flagship somewhat overshadowed these devices. These two iPhones are upgraded versions of last year’s iPhones 7 and 7 Plus. The major upgrade includes the powerful and efficient Apple A11 Bionic chipsets, glass backs, and wireless charging. Smooth performance, glossy and premium glass back and wireless charging give these devices the upper hand over the last year’s devices, however, these upgrades seem minor and negligible when considering the hefty $130 rise in cost.
Apple Watch Series 3
Another product to be announced at the event was the Apple Watch Series 3. Though similar in design to its predecessors, the inclusion of cellular connectivity is a note-worthy addition in the S3. This device will be capable of taking and making calls and will use the same number as used by the iPhone. The cellular connection on the device also allows you to stream music through Apple Music directly on your wrist.
The device uses S3 dual-core processor delivering 70 percent more performance than the S2. This ensures extra smooth performance. This also allows Siri to talk through the built-in speaker, conveying useful information without a need to look at the display. Furthermore, the inclusion of W2 chip for wireless connectivity provides 85 percent boost to Wi-Fi performance and 50 percent increase in power efficiency for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
A new altimeter is also included on the S3, because of which, the device will now track elevation data. S3 is also water-and-dust-resistant. Like S2, it is waterproof up to 50 metres. With the water-resistant build and the combination of machine learning algorithms and biometric sensors, the S3 can measure calorie burn, swim laps, and distance in real time. Alongside, the GPS and a heart rate monitor, has made the S3 a perfect fitness tracking device and will prove to be a strong competitor to the recently announced Fitbit Iconic. The pricing of normal Apple Watch Series 3 starts at $329 and LTE model starts at $399.
Apple TV 4K
Though the release of Apple TVs halted for two years, Apple has finally announced the Apply TV 4K. The Apple TV 4K is the next generation of Apple’s streaming set-top box, which is furnished with the latest hardware and will support both 4K Ultra-HD and HDR streams.
It will include the A10X Fusion Chip, which makes it twice as fast as the current Apple TV. This chip has already been used on iPad Pro and is capable of powering 4K video streaming. The new hardware also includes the latest version of tvOS and Dolby Vision, which is a welcome addition. The Apple TV 4K will be available in two variants: 32GB and 64GB, tagged with the price of $199 and $249 respectively.