The new iPhone X: is upgrading worth it or is it all hype?
By Peter Gagnon
Fall has arrived, and with the new season comes the greatly anticipated Apple conference we have all been waiting for. Gripping the edges of our seats, when that cool day in September arrives, we all find a reason to upgrade. The upgrade from the iPhone 4s to the iPhone 5 was monumental; the body, processor, camera, operating system, and of course lightning charging were all pinnacle. But all in all, there have not been many life changing upgrades to these devices. That is, until the announcement of the iPhone X.
The announcement of the iPhone 8 comes as no surprise to me, mainly because Apple has never been consistent in naming their products. For the last few generations, they have gone sequentially with an S model in-between each number, as they did with the iPhone 6 and 6s. This time they have jumped the gun and gone directly to the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, the Roman numeral for 10. So what comes of this new generation of smart phones? Is it actually worth upgrading?
The iPhone 8 shares an identical body to its predecessor, the iPhone 7, as well as to the iPhone 6. Why keep the same body? Wouldn’t it be a marketing bonus to change the body shape and draw more customers in? This could have also been Apple using the resources they already had—their unibody devices—and simply upgrading the technologies associated with them such as camera, battery, processor and home button.
The iPhone 8 has notable differences from its previous model, even though it shares an extremely similar body structure. These differences include True Tone Display, all-glass and aluminum design, water and dust resistance, 12MP camera with 4K video up to 60 fps, A11 Bionic—the most powerful and smartest chip in a smartphone, and best of all, wireless charging.
For those sticklers looking to critique this new device negatively, there are not many substantial differences, other than the new generation of processor and the wireless charging. The display is a bit more vivid, the body is all glass and aluminum, and the camera is 60 fps versus 30 fps. The plus model features a more powerful camera and multiple picture modes. The 64GB version starts at $699, and the Plus at $799.
Both models feature wireless charging, A11 Bionic and water and dust resistance, but the iPhone X surpasses the 8 in several ways. Its most substantial differences include 5.8-inch Super Retina HD display with HDR and True Tone, all-glass and stainless steel design, 12MP dual cameras with Portrait mode, 7MP True Depth front camera with Portrait mode and Portrait Lighting, and Face ID for secure authentication and Apple Pay.
Differing from the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, its front facing camera, Facial Recognition login, and Super Retina HD display are its only true differing characteristics. For those of you who have read into Apple’s history in competition with Samsung, this phone is not very different from their competitor’s model, the Galaxy S8, which has been on the market for a few months now. The technology included is not very different, nor is the design. In the end, what people are really paying for is the newest thing, but not necessarily the best. Will that stop people from lining up at the door to buy them? Of course not.