After presenting the new Apple Watch Series 4, Tim Cook called Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, to introduce the new iPhones XS and XS Max and, as expected, they are exactly the same as the devices shown in the images leaked in the last week.
With a stainless steel frame, the new devices bring “the most durable glass ever put on a smartphone”, this statement, however, we will have to prove it in practice. Available in three colors (Golden, silvery and space gray), iPhones are the first to bring a certificate IP68 this is officially waterproof (30 minutes to 2 meters deep), as Samsung has done with its devices for a while. Apple even tested numerous types of liquids, from salt water to tea and beer. He apparently resists everything.
The screens of the devices, as expected, are OLED of 5.8 ″ (2436 × 1125 pixels, 458dpi) and 6.5 ″ (2688 × 1242 pixels, also 458dpi). The size of the iPhone XS Max is similar to that of the iPhone 8 Plus, with a screen with an entire inch more diagonally, which is impressive. The screens also have a 60% greater dynamic range for photos, bringing more accurate colors. We also have HDR10 and Dolby Vision technologies, with 1,000,000: 1 contrast, 3D Touch, True Tone and touch sensitivity of 120Hz.
O Face ID It is also, of course, present, but Apple did not announce a new generation of technology, the company limited itself to talking about faster algorithms and a Secure Enclave it is also faster, but without highlighting major advances. Still, the most secure facial authentication system on a smartphone, according to Apple. And, as expected, no Touch ID here either.
The chip that equips the new iPhones, called A12 Bionic, the industry's first manufactured in 7-nanometer architecture, with 6.9 billion transistors. He is a SoC (system-on-a-chip) complete with everything we are entitled to: image signal processing, codecs / decoders video, Secure Enclave, storage controller (up to 512GB of space) and so on.
We have here 6 CPU cores (2 performance and 4 efficiency), all faster and more efficient; the GPU, in turn, has 4 cores and up to 50% faster than before with compression lossless of memory. O Neural Engine it has also been updated and now has 8 cores dedicated to machine learning, capable of performing 5 trillion (!) operations per second against 600 billion from the previous generation.
We can expect great advances with these news and Apple has already shown some in tasks like taking and fetching photos, multitasking in apps, obtaining directions from maps, generating live machine learning (allowing, for example, the application of live Animojis in calls FaceTime) and more.
Due to the A12 Bionic, Siri Shortcuts (an outstanding feature of iOS 12) will also gain extra possibilities, such as multiple chained steps; Core ML, in turn, will be 9 times faster and spend 10x less energy. ARKit 2 is also more advanced, with faster real-time renderings, improved low-light performance and 60 frames per second support.
To demonstrate the power of the new chip, Apple called representatives of three developers on stage displaying new and impressive games. Todd Howard of Bethesda presented The Elder Scrolls: Blades, new fantasy game with impressive graphics that take advantage of the superpowered processor and stereo speakers; David Lee of the Nex Team and former basketball player Steve Nash presented Homecourt, a basketball game that films you playing and analyzes your moves with the help of Core ML. Finally, Atli Mar, from Directive Games, showed the app Galaga AR, for collective gaming experiences in augmented reality in the impressive real world!
In relation to cameras, we continue with two rear lenses of 12MP; now with enhanced True Tone flash. We have a larger sensor with deeper pixels, in addition to the f / 1.8 aperture, in the wide angle. The telephoto lens continues to open at f / 2.4. At the front, the sensor has also been updated, and brings 7MP.
The big leap of iPhones XS is in your intelligence: the devices use the Neural Engine to improve photos, detecting scenes and faces in real time and adjusting your sensors accordingly in a feature called Smart HDR if the subject of the photo moves, for example, the iPhone XS captures multiple photo frames when hitting, including versions with different exposures in order to combine them into one “perfect” image. The devices automatically detect and correct red eye, too.
The Portrait Mode and Portrait Lighting Mode are also enhanced due to the artificial intelligence of the devices. It is now possible to adjust the depth of field of a photo at any time after taking it; one slider in the Photos app it allows you to slide your finger, controlling the intensity of the background blur we can go from f / 1.4 to f / 16, all through the software. 4K video capture is also much better with the enhanced sensors and the device's four microphones are used for sound capture.
In terms of drums, the iPhone XS lasts 30 minutes longer than the X, while the XS Max has the largest battery ever placed on an iPhone, lasting 1h30 longer than the iPhone X.
In addition, we also have support for faster networks, new bands /roaming and guess what Dual SIM (two chips). One is a traditional chip and the other is an eSIM, so your operator needs to support the feature only in China, a special model will support two physical chips, since that country does not allow the use of embedded SIMs. A new technology called DSDS (Dual Sim Dual Standby) allows the feature to be used with minimal battery drain.
To finish, Lisa Jackson took the stage to remember that all Apple operations now run on clean energy and now sets out in search of new challenges.
The new iPhones have their logic board made in parts from recycled tin, which means that more than 10,000 tons of tin are no longer mined; the devices also use less plastic and most of those still employed are recycled the speaker, for example, made with 35% recycled plastic; the frame that protects the front glass made with 32% of the same material. The program Apple GiveBack repurchase or exchange will recycle your free devices, even if they are no longer usable. Rob Daisy, who recycles iPhones, can now work with nine models of them.
The XS iPhones will go on sale on September 14, reaching the market on September 21. Prices start at $ 999 (XS) and $ 1,099 (XS Max), in capacities of 64GB, 256GB and 512GB and in space gray, silver and gold.
