"One more thing..." That's when the real excitement begins.
The phrase that sends chills down everyone's spine at Apple launch event, and this time when Apple CEO Tim Cook said those magical words, a loud cheer was followed by the biggest iPhone launch ever.
Apple's first event at the newly-built Steve Jobs Theater is certainly the one that goes down in history. Unlike traditional launches in recent years, Apple launched a third iPhone in addition to iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, which commemorates the tenth year anniversary of the first iPhone in 2007.
It's called the iPhone X (pronounced iPhone 10).
"Over the past decade, we've pushed forward with innovation after innovation, bringing us to this moment, when we can create devices that are far more intelligent, far more capable, and far more creative than ever before," Cook said of the new iPhone X.
Perfectionists would envy the all-new iPhone X, and Apple is the perfectionist that has given the world one after another great iPhones. But the iPhone X has to be the best of them all.
From an edge-to-edge display to wireless charging and no Home button, iPhone X is going to be one of the finest concept phones made till date. We've seen some great phones like Essential and Xiaomi Mi MIX 2, but Apple shows who the boss is with iPhone X.
The glass design makes it look delicate, but the core is made up of "surgical-grade" stainless steel around the sides for durability. As earlier suggested, iPhone X comes with an OLED display with 458ppi – highest in any iPhone – and Apple calls it Super Retina display.
There's a lot of display and no bezels, but it is built to fit easily into a hand despite having a 5.8-inch screen. The extended screen left no space for bezels, and naturally the Home button had to go. But Apple did some smart replacements so you never feel its absence.
The Home button's Touch ID (fingerprint scanner) is replaced by FaceID, which scans your face to unlock the iPhone X. There's a notch at the top of the phone, which packs a bundle of sensors and cameras. There's the standard front camera, proximity sensor and ambient light sensor. But new additions such as Infrared camera, Flood illuminator, microphone, a speaker and Dot projector are packed at the top notch.
This setup enables facial recognition even in the dark. According to Apple, FaceID is more secure than Touch ID and works with Apple Pay and other third-party apps that supported Touch ID.
But the home button was not only used for Touch ID. Apple explained and demonstrated how swiping up from the bottom to all the way up will take you to home, and swiping up from bottom and pause at the center will launch multi-tasking menu. The iOS Control Center is now accessible by swiping down from the screen's top.
Finally, there's Siri. You can either talk to your iPhone X and wake up Siri with the default command or use the lock button on the side to fire up the AI.
The iPhone X is full of surprises. The camera is made up of two 12MP sensors placed vertically with OIS and quad-LED True Tone flash. On the front, you'll find a 7MP FaceTime camera. Apple showed off its new Portrait Mode with various settings, but the augmented reality application through its ARKit framework was the show-stopper.
Like the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, the iPhone X also supports Qi Wireless Charging, which is an industry standard followed by the likes of Samsung and LG as well. The iPhone X is also equipped with fast charging and the company claims the phone can last up to 21 hours of talk time.
This time, Apple ditched the 32GB and 128GB storage models for all of its iPhones, offering just 64GB and 256GB. There's an A11 chipset under the hood doing most of the heavy-lifting. And if you missed entirely, the A11 two performance cores, four high-efficiency cores, and the first Apple-designed GPU.
Now the biggest question is whether it is worth it.
Apple iPhone X is the most expensive iPhone ever made. The entry-level 64GB model is priced at $999 and the 256GB storage variant costs $1,149. Given the level of improvements, iPhone X is certainly worth it. Pre-orders for the device begin on October 27 and shipping starts November 3 in the U.S.
In India, the iPhone X will be priced at Rs. 89,000 for the 64GB model, Rs. 1,02,000 for the 256GB variant, and it will be available on the same day as in the U.S.
