It’s that time of year again, folks. The day where Apple makes me wake up at a stupid hour to write about its new range of iPhones and this year, it started with a clip of a woman racing a briefcase to the Steve Jobs Theatre which turned out to contain CEO Tim Cook‘s presentation clicker. Hilarious. I’m too tired for this shit, Tim. Anyway, let’s get into the new iPhones.
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As the rumours indicated, we did indeed get three new models of the iPhone X – the iPhone XS, a bigger option called the iPhone XS Max, and the iPhone XR, which is essentially the budget version of the X in a wider range of colours.
The XS is the same size as the X, which means it has a 5.8-inch OLED display, but the new unit has a 60 per cent greater dynamic range, which means colours will pop just that little bit more. The XS Max has a 6.5-inch OLED display, which is the biggest they’ve ever put on an iPhone. Both come cased in surgical grade stainless steel.
Apple’s improved the water and dust protection to IP68, which translates to 2 metres for 30 seconds. In other words, if you dropped it in a pool up to 2 metres deep and got it out in 30 seconds, it’ll be sweet, mate. They also said it was tested in a bunch of different liquids, including beer. Sick.
In terms of colour, both will be available in gold, silver, and space grey. There’s also a new size – a massive 512GB.
Despite rumours it was going to be ditched, 3D Touch is still a feature in the new XS and XS Max, but not the XR. All of the devices run on Apple’s new A12 Bionic chip, which has a 6-core CPU that’s 15 per cent faster in terms of processing power, but 50 per cent faster with graphics processing, which translates to better performance in mobile gaming.
The XS and XS Max have wider stereo sound and Face ID will function faster. When it comes to the camera, it’s still a dual 12-megapixel system, but with some minor updates, the most impressive of which is a new slider for depth of field in portrait mode, allowing you to change it after the photo has been taken. Pretty impressive stuff.
The other rumour was also correct – the XS and XS Max will have dual sim support, which is mad for your mate who travels heaps. It will work on a Dual Sim Dual Standby system, which means both numbers will be active and can receive calls.
The battery on the XS will last 30 minutes longer than the X, and the XS Max will last an hour and a half longer than the X.
The iPhone XR has most of the same features the premium models have, only in an aluminium casing and with a single 12-megapixel camera. The 6.1-inch display is also a little different – it’s an LCD screen rather than OLED. The XR comes in black, white, blue, coral, yellow, and red. The battery life is an hour and a half longer than the iPhone 8. You’ll be able to grab one of these on October 26 in either 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB sizes.
The iPhone XS and XS Max will be available on September 21 in 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB sizes.
Prices in Australia for the new iPhones start at $1,229 for the XR, $1,629 for the XS, and $1,799 for the XS Max. That’s for the 64GB units, so expect to tack on more for more storage space.
That’s it for this year’s new iPhones, friends. I hope there’s something here for you and your wallet, which I can already hear screaming in pain.
