Every single year, the hype surrounding the new iPhones is colossal. Even when the company isn’t actually producing the most innovative devices in the world, Apple still knows how to grab the attention of the audience and present a show. From the astonishingly well-designed product videos to the easy and digestible presentations, Apple has always been at the forefront of product reveals.
This year, the iPhone 11 reveal was watched live by over 2 million people around the world. These numbers are mindbogglingly high for a live stream, let alone one that is just marketing. This shows the sheer level of trust and leverage that Apple has developed over the years with its audience.
The new iPhones, revealed during yesterday’s event, come in three main variants, the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. The naming scheme has been changed to a much more understandable format as the distinction between the names XS and XR was rather vague if you didn’t really know about the phones beforehand.
In the new lineup, the iPhone 11 replaces the iPhone XR while the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max replace the iPhone XS and XS Max respectively.
Design and Screen:
In terms of design and build, the new iPhones don’t differ much from last year’s offerings, apart from that camera bump. The phones still retain the same aluminum body, curving seamlessly on all sides. The colour options get a slight change this year with some new slick finishes for both the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro that would make the phones a lot less prone to fingerprints. At the front, the new iPhones keep the same old notch at the top, which is rather large considering today’s standards.
In terms of display, the iPhone 11 comes with a 6.1-inch LCD display while the Pro models get Retina XDR OLED displays. The new Retina XDR displays have the highest pixel density of any Apple display ever and come with HDR. However, these displays are still not what you’d call cutting-edge or flagship in terms of their raw resolution and sit somewhere between a 1080p and 1440p display.
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Performance and Battery:
Every single year, Apple comes out all-guns blazing with its industry-leading chipsets that blow the competition out of the water. While the real life differences are not that big in terms of performance, Apple’s processors and GPUs are still way ahead of the competition, on paper at least.
Continuing the trend of performance domination, this year’s iPhones come with the all new A13 bionic chip from Apple. The A13 comes with a third generation neural engine to fully eek out the use of AI and machine learning. The A13 chip offers a 20% performance boost across the board while being much more energy efficient at the same time.
Last year’s A12 was already way ahead of any offerings from Qualcomm, Hisilicon or Samsung so it would be interesting to see how the new A13 compares. According to an Apple representative, the A13 chip is “so far ahead of the competition that it would remain competitive with flagships for the next two years”.
While the statement might be a little too bold, it is not entirely far from the truth, on paper at least. In terms of battery, the new iPhones promise upto 5 hours more battery life as compared to the previous models. However, that isn’t much of a claim considering how notoriously horrendous the iPhone XS battery was.
Apple, in classic Apple fashion, has not released the official battery capacities so we’d have to wait until the release to find out if they can really compete with the massive Android flagship batteries these days. However, one good thing to notice is that Apple is finally including a fast-charger in the box for the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max.
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Cameras:
During the reveal, Apple spent the highest amount of time explaining the new iPhone cameras to the audience. After all, the new cameras are arguably the biggest feature of the new iPhone 11. The iPhone 11 comes with a dual-camera setup while the 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max have, for the first time in an iPhone, a triple-camera setup. These cameras are encompassed by a rather strange looking camera bump which will surely polarize opinions. However, internally, you might find some very familiar stuff if you belong to the Android camp. The iPhone 11 gets dual 12 Megapixel Wide and Ultra Wide cameras with the Pro variants getting an additional Telephoto lens. The new Ultra Wide camera offers a 120 degree field-of-view with an f/2.4 aperture. Additionally, the normal Wide camera comes with an f/1.8 aperture while the telephoto has an f/2.0 aperture.
What this means in terms of real-life camera performance is good photos across the board. Apple has also finally followed the trend and has included a night mode for its camera which would massively boost the rather subpar low-light photography capabilities of the iPhone. The new iPhones also have some new camera software tricks up their sleeves with new portrait lighting effects, smart HDR and better image stabilization.
The new iPhones are also capable of video at 4K60 with some cinematic stabilization. In terms of real life usage, the iPhone 11 promises a slight but noticeable improvement over its predecessor and it would be interesting to see all these changes once the phone officially launches.
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Price and Availability:
The iPhone 11 starts at $699 and will cater to those who want the iPhone experience without obliterating their wallets. As was the case with iPhone XR, the iPhone 11 has success written all over it. Considering the fact that most people do not care about the OLED display or the telephoto camera, the iPhone 11 offers some great performance for a very good price point, a territory that is still new for Apple. On the other side, the iPhone 11 Pro starts at $999 for and the 11 Pro Max starts at $1099 both for the 64 GB variant, maintaining the pricing structure from last year. However, Apple does need to increase the base variant storage to at least 128 GB for the next iPhone to stay competitive.
The iPhone 11 will launch on September 20, 2019 and you can preorder the new iPhone 11 on the Apple Store right now. In addition to that, Apple is also offering a trade-in program for those with older devices. Apart from the iPhone 11, Apple has still kept the iPhone XR, iPhone X and the iPhone 8 in its lineup at reduced prices, which is a pretty good marketing move. These older phones are geared towards the mid-range and budget market and will be a great potential option for most people.
So, what did you think of the new iPhones? Would you be grabbing one? Let us know down in the comments below. We have more coverage coming up on the new iPhones, so stay tuned!