Yesterday was a big day for Apple and Apple fans.
During their highly anticipated keynote in the new Apple Headquarters in California, CEO Tim Cook didn't only pay tribute to Steve Jobs, but also introduced some new Apple products.
Since the first ever iPhone was launched exactly 10 years ago, it was obvious that a special kind of phone was about to be released.
As I already stated in a post a few months ago, information had already leaked about the new iPhone - but until then, everything was still a speculation.
Now, it's been confirmed -
Apple has announced the revolutionary iPhone X, as well as an iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.
iPhone X
The iPhone X (which is actually pronounced "iPhone ten") is the most innovative smartphone we've seen from apple yet.
It's supposed to be released November 3rd, but as we know it's not always easy to actually get your hands on new apple products once they come out.
The price starts at $999, which is very expensive for a smartphone. The price factor is actually something that sparked a huge discussion online, about whether this price was justified and how much a smart phone should cost.
What do you think about the price - reasonable or overpriced?
Design and Screen
The iPhone X screen is almost completely bezel-less. It misses the home button and features a 5.8 inch super retina display. The OLED screen offers "accurate, stunning colors, true blacks, high brightness, and a 1,000,000 to 1 contrast ratio."
The phone itself is made with "the most durable glass ever in a smartphone", and it's water and dust resistant.
Camera
The iPhone X features a dual 12MP camera at the back featuring optical image stabilization, fast lenses and are depth sensing.
The wide-angle and telephoto cameras enable both optical- and digital zoom of up to 10x for photos and 6x for videos.
The 7 MP "true depth" front camera now also offers Portrait mode, enabling you to take artsy selfies with blurred backgrounds.
Another new feature within the portrait mode is portrait lighting, where you can switch between different light settings to achieve different effects on your picture.
Wireless charging
Wireless charging is nothing new - owners of certain android smartphones have already been using this feature for years.
But now, finally has already jumped on the bandwagon and integrated charging with the Qi wireless chargers, which are already being used in airports and hotels around the world (and they're even featured in an IKEA collection!)
Apple also plans to release the AirPower mat in 2018, a thin mat where you can place up to 3 different devices to charge wirelessly.
Animoji
Animoji is a new feature that hasn't been leaked before. Everyone was totally surprised by it and it turns out that most people actually thought this was the coolest / most interesting feature of the iPhone X !
Animoji gives you the ability to animate your favorite Emojis with your own facial expressions.
Since the iPhone X is equipped with face mapping techniques, the truedepth front camera analyzes more than 50 different muscle movements to mirror facial expressions in 12 different Animoji.
Face ID
The most controversial feature is probably the face ID, which is why I've saved it for last.
It works by projecting over 30,000 invisible dots on your face, to create a facial map.
An integrated infrared camera then recognizes the dot pattern, captures an infrared image, and transfers the data to the secure enclave in the A11 Bionic chip to confirm a match and unlock the phone or make a payment.
The process is encrypted and protected by the Secure Enclave, and was designed to resist fraud with photos or masks.
The machine learning feature of the A11 chip recognizes your face, even if you change something about your physical appearance - glasses, hats, different hair colors and make up won't affect it.
Security concerns
Facial recognition is a new technology that we will see a lot more of in the future. Although some people might not be comfortable with it, I've already wrote a post about it 2 months ago, and I will say it again:
Facial recognition is on the rise, and no one can stop this movement - it will undoubtedly become a part of future technologies, whether we like it or not.
For some, it might seem scary, risky, or just plain stupid to use it in a smartphone, but it's a futuristic feature.
Famous whistleblower Edward Snowden was one of the first to publicly state his opinion about the safety of Face ID.
In conclusion, he said it's positive that Face ID already had a panic turn-off - but he also said that face scanning is "a tech certain to be abused".
What is your overall opinion about the iPhone X, the price, and features like Animoji or Face ID?
Which feature are you must excited about?
Ā© Sirwinchester