Apple has officially announced its new iPhone 8 and 8 Plus smartphones. These phones are similar to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models from last year, but feature many upgraded internals such as faster processor, upgraded cameras, and a True Tone display.
One of the biggest changes is that it comes with a glass back, and includes wireless charging. The reason why Apple introduced the glass back is so it can introduce wireless charging, as well as wireless charging wouldn’t have worked on an aluminum shell like the older model.
Unfortunately though, if you were hoping that the 3.5mm headphone jack would make its way back to the iPhone, you’re mistaken. Apple has not introduced the jack back into the iPhone.
The wireless charging works much like other phones on the market do that support this feature. All you have to do is simply place the phone on a charging pad, and it will start charging up. Good news for iPhone users now is that it will free up your Lightning port to use however you want while your phone is charging.
Apple is using the widely used Qi charging standard, so if you have a wireless charger that uses the Qi standard, then you don’t need to buy a new charger because your current one will work just fine.
Apple has also introduced a newly improved True Tone technology into its display to automatically adjust the screen based on the ambient light in the room to offer more accurate colors. For internals, Apple has upgraded the processor to A11 Bionic. This is a six-core chip with two performance ores that are 25 percent faster than its predecessor, and four performance cores that the company says are 70 percent faster than previous models. Apple-designed GPU is also 30 percent faster.
Lets move into the camera. Apple introduced a new 12-megapixel camera sensor in the iPhone 8 that is faster, larger, and finally comes with optical image stabilization. The iPhone 8 Plus also comes with new sensors, offering f/1.8 and f2.8 apertures. The dual cameras on the iPhone 8 Plus offer a new “Portrait Lighting” feature that will adjust the lighting for portrait shots. The new devices will also have the “highest quality video capture ever in a smartphone,” including support for 4K/60fps video. Slow motion has also received an upgrade to 1080p resolution at 240fps.
Apple is boasting that iPhone 8 is the first smartphone designed with augmented reality in mind, with cameras calibrated for AR, as well as new gyroscope and accelerometer for improved motion tracking.
Apple’s iPhone 8 model will come in three color options: gold, silver, and space grey. In terms of storage, there is a 64GB version that will run you $699, and the $849 for the 256GB version. Speaking of iPhone 8 Plus mode, it will run $799 for 64GB storage, and $949 for the 256GB version.
Preorders for the phone start on Friday, September 15th, and will be released a week later on September 22nd.
