As is custom for the Apple family, the tech giant hosted an event that saw the announcement of three new phones, particularly the iPhone X, 8 and 8 Plus, as well as improvements on the iOS 11 and Apple Watch and TV.
Hosted in the beautiful spaceship-like building dubbed the Steve Jobs Theatre, chief executive officer Tim Cook commemorated the Apple founder with a few words to start off the event.
“Steve meant so much to me and and so much to all of us. He fought deeply about our workplace and our surroundings.” And using his vision to create better products, here’s what the team announced on Tuesday:
Apple 4K TV is the next best thing for television now. Using new high dynamic range (HDR) technology, it means better pixelation compared to the standard high definition television and cool new features thanks to a collaboration with streaming apps such as Netflix. Catch your favourite sports games live and use Siri to operate more functions. However, they might be slightly limited as not all functions are available in Namibia.
Speaking of functions, the Apple Watch has major improvements, so you can now use it as a phone by answering or making calls, stream songs from your wrist and order Siri around.
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus wasn’t as impressive. Their design looks exactly like the iPhone 7, except that it now features glass on both sides of the phone. That means an even higher chance of breakage and fixing this could plunge you into debt. However, a cool new feature is the wireless charging option which is quite convenient when you don’t have a port nearby.
The phone is also dust and water resistant and comes in bigger displays. The picture quality of both phones upped its game with the 12-megapixel camera and all-new portrait mode which makes for better photos. And as usual, a faster graphics chip is included.
Love working out? The Workout app allows for smart coaching while the heart rate app easily monitors you.
It’s truly the iPhone X (pronounced as iPhone 10) that was the most impressive, though. In Apple’s words, it’s a “new generation of iPhone”. The X is all screen, meaning the home button has completely been removed. One of the key features of the phone is the Face ID function where your face becomes your password.
Roll your head around once and your phone will instantly recognise you, whether in the dark or in the light. Also, the portrait mode allows you to take even better selfies than before. Not to mention the Animoji (animated emojis), a cool feature that mirrors your movements to animate cute emojis, much like Snapchat does with filters. However, as predicted, this phone is the priciest.
When it comes to iOS 11, new features include a revamped app store, a Files app to finally organise your life, QuickType to keep your letters, numbers and symbols on the same keyboard, more gaming with augmented reality and creating gifs with your live photos as well as more filters for your pics. Oh, and a new control centre.
Indeed, Apple never ceases to amaze us.
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