At the presentation Apple, which is now taking place in Cupertino, they finally showed the flagship line iPhone of 2018: iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max. The promo video showed not only the difference in the sizes of these models, but also the new color of the case – gold. In addition, the usual colors will remain: silver and space gray. Read more about new products under the cut.
Apple brought back the tradition of releasing S-versions – improved modifications of the previous generation. The new iPhones have received a higher standard of protection against dust and moisture – IP68. The glasses on the front and rear panels have also become more durable. The differences, of course, do not end there.
Design and display
Like its predecessor, the iPhone Xs received a 5.8-inch OLED True Tone display with Dolby Vision, HDR10 and 3D Touch support.
The second model actually got the name Max, as stated in the leaks. Thus, Apple now has two lines of “enlarged” iPhones: Plus (5.5 ″) and Max (6.5 ″). Its Super Retina display has a resolution of 2688 x 1242 pixels (458 ppi). In horizontal mode iPhone, the Xs Max supports split screen mode like the earlier Plus models.
In the lineup Apple iPhone Xs Max will take place iPhone 7/8 Max. Despite the significant difference in the display diagonal, all three of these models have approximately the same dimensions, which was achieved due to the almost frameless design in the Xs Max.
As for the design, the iPhone Xs Max is, in fact, a larger version of iPhone X without any major changes. Thanks to the IP68 certification, both new products can safely stay in water at a depth of 2 meters for half an hour. The dimensions of the Xs Max and updated stereo speakers allow for an even more spacious sound.
As stated, iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max will be available for purchase in three colors: Silver, Space Gray and Gold.
Face ID
Face ID recognition will be even faster thanks to the improved Secure Enclave coprocessor and new, faster algorithms. Apple claims to be the safest face recognition technology available for smartphones.
A12 Bionic
The novelties were equipped with the world's first 7-nm processor – Apple A12 Bionic. It consists of 2 fast cores and 4 energy efficient ones. At the same time, high-speed cores are 50% faster compared to the A11 Bionic. Also in iPhone 2018, a GPU Apple with 4 cores was installed, which is also 50% faster than its predecessor.
In addition, they received an 8-core chip Apple Neutral Engine, which is responsible for machine learning – in the previous generation, only 2 cores were allocated for these tasks. It is capable of processing 5 trillion neural operations per second (the Neural Engine in the A11 Bionic could handle only 600 million).
What will this give the user? At least the fact that applications will now open about 30% faster. Accordingly, all systems that rely on machine learning will also become more responsive.
Apple also opened access to the Neural Engine CoreML framework, thanks to which the latter will run about 9 times faster, but at the same time consume 10 times less energy. Developers now run complex neural-learning algorithms in their applications without worrying about performance degradation or excess power consumption. It will also give a new impetus to the development of AR applications: the new chip allows you to track movements and create their projection in real time.
Cameras
From the outside, it seems that the dual main camera has not changed in any way compared to iPhone X. As in the previous generation, there is a 12MP wide-angle lens and an additional telephoto sensor with the same resolution. Apple has improved this system with a newer 1.4μm wide-angle sensor with OIS and Focus Pixels (technology that dramatically reduces focusing speed; announced with iPhone 6 and 6 Plus). The telephoto lens is also equipped with an optical stabilizer.
The TrueTone flash has also been updated with a shake sensor (it should adjust if your hand shakes while shooting).
Also in iPhone Xs and Xs Max added a new Smart HDR shooting mode. The system combines 4 shots for maximum detail and best dynamic range. The new Imaging Processor and Neural Engine should also help new iPhones capture stunning images in all conditions.
The intensity of the bokeh effect in portrait mode can now be adjusted directly from the camera app. 4 microphones allow you to record high quality sound in stereo during video recording.
The front camera TrueDepth (all the same 7 megapixels) also received a new, faster sensor. But the aperture has not changed: f / 2.2. Now you can record video on the front camera at Full HD at 60 fps and electronic image stabilization.
Autonomy
iPhone The Xs will last approximately 30 minutes longer on a single charge than its predecessor. iPhone Xs Max is equipped with the largest battery in the history of iPhones (capacity is not named; most likely, you will have to wait for analysis from iFixit). Thanks to this, the older model will run 1.5 hours longer than iPhone X.
Communication
In addition to the faster gigabit LTE, the new ones iPhone will also receive support for Bluetooth 5.0 and – drum roll –DSDS, that is, support for two SIM-cards. However, do not rush to rejoice. Directly there will be only one slot for a SIM-card in this generation, the second card must be electronic (eSIM). In Russia, telecom operators do not yet support this standard, so you cannot use two numbers from one phone.
However, a special version iPhone of the Xs Max with two SIM card slots will be released in China.
Price and release date
Pre-orders for iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max will open on September 14, and the new items will go on sale in Russia on September 28. The price tag for the junior model starts from 87,990 rubles, and iPhone Xs Max can be purchased for 96,990 rubles. You can read more about the prices here.