Apple have aped Microsoft and jumped straight from the iPhone 8 to the iPhone X (pronounced ‘iPhone 10’) missing out the 9th version, the only difference being that the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X are all being released at the same time.
Preorders for the iPhone 8 start on September the 15th (probably no accident that this is the date that the Samsung Note 8 will land in the hands of the first recipients), with delivery on the 22nd. If you want to hold out for the star of the Apple devices however, you’ll have to hold out until the 27th of October to preorder for delivery on the 3rd of November.
“Our vision has always been to create an iPhone that is entirely screen. One so immersive the device itself disappears into the experience. And so intelligent it can respond to a tap, your voice, and even a glance. With iPhone X, that vision is now a reality.”
– Apple
This is a bit of a problem for Apple lovers, do you go for the lesser model at a more ‘affordable’ price of £699 (for the 64Gb iPhone 8) or £799 for the iPhone 8 Plus and get your fix of new tech sooner, or will you be willing to watch all your mates with their new Apple devices for over a month until the £999 iPhone X finally hits the streets?
Of course if you just want to impress with size then the iPhone 8 Plus is the biggest device but that, along with the iPhone 8, just looks ugly compared to the iPhone X.
All three models for the first time support what has become a pretty basic fuction – WiFi charging, although there’s a neat Apple AirPod charging base to come in 2018. The AirPod will charge multiple devices at the same time which is unique to Apple.
The iPhone X also comes with face recognition for unlocking and payment security which sounds impressive until when Apple’s Craig Federighi tried to demo it live it totally failed first time around. Presentation tech blips aside it’s quite neat but then the Samsung Note 8 also has facial recognition although it doesn’t look to be as secure as Apple’s version.
Cameras on all three devices have had a much needed overhaul, Apple cameras have always lacked the definition of Samsung’s but we’ll have to wait to compare Apple’s new 12 megapixel cameras with Apples to see what real photos are like. There’s also some neat virtual reality stuff built in (probably mainly will be used for gaming) which to me just looks utterly annoying and pointless, but then what do I know – I’m too old for stupid stuff like this!
Another cute touch (only with EE in the UK) will be the ability to make calls on the latest Apple Watch even when your iPhone isn’t with you.
Verdict
Apple made a big thing about the iPhone X being as much a revolution as the first iPhone was a decade ago. The iPhone was what broke Microsoft’s stranglehold on the computing industry and moved the Internet from a computer firmly onto a smartphone.
The iPhone X is packed with tech, but much as Apple want you to believe it is, the iPhone X is not the seismic move in computing that the first iPhone was, neither is the Apple Watch. It’s not far enough ahead of the curve to convince half the world to dump smartphones from other manufacturers and gravitate to Apple, but it’s certainly enough to convince everyone with an earlier model iPhone that they really want to upgrade to one of the three new versions.
If you’re trying to figure out which of the new iPhones to buy then you’re obviously an Apple fan and there’s no point me comparing them to the fantastic Android devices available. With that in mind then buy the iPhone X which is the slickest, exhorbitantly priced, but definitely the one to go for. If you can’t afford the iPhone X then don’t settle for the second best iPhone 8. Save some money and check out the iPhone 7 which you should now be able to get contract free from about £549.
