You know it’s a big deal in the world of smartphones when Apple brings new gear to the stage.
Today the world met the next iteration in Apple’s storied iPhone series, the new iPhone XS and iPhone XS MAX, the latter being the new “Plus” version of the top-of-the-line X series from Apple.
Of course, it promises to be a photography and videography powerhouse with “smart HDR” and a bokeh slider, among other things.
It will also come in an array of new colors according to Apple (Gild, Silver, and Space Gray).
Sporting a front and back made out of glass, the whole thing is held together by a “surgical-grade aluminium” skeleton. The iPhone XS will have an edge-to-edge OLED Super Retina screen at a size of 5.8-inches with a 2.7-million-pixel screen resolution while the larger XS MAX has a 6.5-inch screen with a resolution of 3.3-million-pixels. The most noticeable difference in screen size is between the XS MAX and the iPhone 8 Plus: The XS MAX edge-to-edge screen adds a full inch of screen real estate over the 8 Plus.
Other features Apple touted in its unveiling include IP68 waterproofing, 120Hz touch sensing, 3D touch, Tap to Wake, True Tone display, iOS color management, tops out at 512GB storage, and a bigger battery with one and half hours of more life over its predecessor.
As PetaPixel points out, the iPhone line of products represents the most popular camera line in terms of sheer numbers in the world and you can bet that Apple is going to go hard in the camera department for the new XS and XS MAX.
Both of the new iPhone variants will have a dual-camera system: a 12MP wide-angle camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and a 6-element f/1.8 lens and a telephoto camera at 12MP with OIS and a 2x optical zoom and 6-element f/2.4 lens with a “True Tone” flash in between. As PetaPixel points out on the front of the camera, “multi-sensor system featuring a dot projector, infrared camera, and a main 7-megapixel RGB camera with a faster sensor and an f/2.2 aperture lens.”
One feature that will catch the eyes of many photographers is the iPhone XS and XS MAX’s use of AI technology in its Smart HDR. Basically this works to capture multiple variants of the same scene in order to combine the best elements of each according to the parameters you’re trying to achieve. This is accomplished through the A12 processor found in the XS and XS MAX.
Another big deal is the improved bokeh effect with a depth-of-field slider that will allow the user to adjust the depth of the photo on the fly and before your very eyes.
Of course, all of this is coming out soon but none of it is coming cheap: Expect the iPhone XS and iPhone XS MAX to hit retail around the expected ship date of September 21 with pre-orders beginning September 14th at $USD 999 and $USD 1,099 respectively with 64GB, 256GB, 512GB hard drive variants available at launch.
You can watch Apple's presentation here on YouTube.
