To commemorate a decade of iPhones, Apple ended its September event with “one more thing,” the iPhone X (“ten”). Starting at $999 for 64GB and $1,149 for 256GB, it is Apple’s most expensive iPhone to date. It includes a redesigned glass and stainless steel enclosure, wireless charging and dual cameras. Its flagship feature is an edge-to-edge “Super Retina display” — a 5.8-in. OLED display that supports Dolby Vision and HDR 10. It has a pixel resolution of 458ppi, a 1 million-to-1 contrast ratio, and True Tone. Touch ID and the Home button have been removed in favor of a new biometric security: Face ID. Face ID uses a TrueDepth camera system made up of a dot projector, infrared camera and flood illuminator. The A11 Bionic chip works in tandem with advanced depth-sensing technologies to map and recognize a user’s face to securely unlock the iPhone or make a transaction with Apple Pay. Face ID only works when a user looks at the iPhone X directly and is designed to prevent spoofing by photos and masks. The TrueDepth camera also can animate emoji, which Apple playfully calls Animoji. The 7-megapixel TrueDepth front-facing camera that enables Face ID also includes auto image stabilization and delivers Portrait mode for better selfies with a depth-of-field effect. The dual 12-megapixel rear camera includes dual optical image stabilization, and an improved f/2.4 aperature on the telephoto lens. According to Apple, the new A11 Bionic neural engine performs up to 600 billion operations per second and is designed for specific machine learning algorithms, enabling Face ID, Animoji, and other features. Colors include silver and space gray. Pre-orders start on Oct. 27; the iPhone X will be available November 3.
