During the first-ever Apple Event at the Steve Jobs Theater, Apple announced the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus! Unlike the futuristic iPhone X, these new iPhones are just updates to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. As usual though, Apple added improvements to what were already great iPhones. Here are the standout features of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus:
Retina HD Displays with True Tone!
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus has improved Retina HD displays. The most important thing you need to know is that they both have True Tone displays as well! These iPhones can detect changes in ambient light to show proper white balance. I think this feature is super cool and could help with people’s eyesights.
All-Glass Design
In a seemingly throwback move to the iPhone 4, both new iPhones have a glass front display and a glass back. The sides maintain the aluminum used since the iPhone 6s. Both new phones come in three colors: Space Gray, Silver, and Gold. I personally think it’s a new shade of gold though. It actually looks better than the previous Gold shades in the iPhone 6.
Improved Rear Cameras!
It wouldn’t be an iPhone update without improvements to the camera! Both iPhone 8 and 8 Plus have improved 12MP sensors for better overall quality. They also get the benefit of the newer ISP in the A11 Bionic chip!
The iPhone 8 Plus gets the benefit of dual cameras with a better Portrait mode. Unlike its predecessor, this phone gets the new feature of Portrait Lighting!
There are two ways you can take advantage of the Portrait Lighting feature:
- Use the Camera app and set the lighting setting in Portrait mode
- Edit the photo taken through Portrait mode in the Photos app
This really lessens the need for a DSLR for normal people. I personally want to try this feature out on the iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X. It sucks though that only one of the two cameras on the iPhone 8 Plus has Optical Image Stabilization. There’s always next year.
A11 Bionic!
The brain behind the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X is the A11 Bionic chip. This is Apple’s 5th chip that’s 64-bit. Thanks to all the years making custom designs for their chips, Apple basically stuffed A LOT of tech in the A11.
For the first time, Apple designed their own three-core GPU that they claim to be 30% faster than A10 Fusion. They also added a Neural Engine, a dual-core processor in the A11 dedicated for machine learning and AI. The main processor now has 6 cores: two performance cores and four efficiency cores. It also has a new image signal processor (ISP) that enables the camera improvements. All in all, the A11 Bionic processor makes the iPhone ready for AR and machine learning stuff.
Pushing Towards a Wireless World.
Smartphones are heading towards a wireless world. We now have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and Apple got rid of the headphone jack last year. One of the reasons (probably THE reason) why the new iPhones have glass backs is due to wireless charging. Other phones had wireless charging for a while but Apple is joining the fray.
All new iPhones now have wireless charging using the Qi wireless standard. This means that ANY charging pad that supports Qi will work with all the new iPhones! Apple also announced their own wireless charging mat: AirPower! Its standout feature is that you can charge up to three Apple devices that support wireless charging! The bad news about it is that AirPower will not come out until 2018.
iPhone 8: Powered by iOS 11.
Announced during Apple’s WWDC 2017, iOS 11 became a big update for iPhones! With iOS 11, you get a Mac-like Dock, customizable Control Center, new Siri voices, and more!
You can get iOS 11 for the following devices on September 19 (Sept. 20 in PH):
- iPhone 5s or later
- iPad mini 2 or later
- iPad Air and Air 2
- iPod touch (6th gen)
- iPad (5th gen)
- iPad Pro (all generations)
Release Details
Price starts at $699 for the iPhone 8 (64 GB) and $799 for the iPhone 8 Plus (64 GB). It comes in three colors: Space Gray, Silver, and Gold! I personally love the new Gold color on the iPhone 8 series right now.
Unlike the iPhone X, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus will be open for preorder on Sept. 15 at 12:01AM (Sept. 15, 3:01PM in the PH) and available on Sept. 22 in the following countries:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UAE, the UK, the US and US Virgin Islands
The next wave will be on September 29 where the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus will be available in the ff. countries:
Andorra, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, India, Isle of Man, Israel, Jersey, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia and Slovenia
What do you think of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus? Are they boring phones? Are they better than the iPhone X for you? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Are these prices for the US market? And how does the glass body hlp in charging? ….the Apple iPhone 8 review)
Yes. It may differ in other countries. The glass back helps in wireless charging.