Apple announced its new iPhone devices last night to much fanfare in the newly-built Apple Park.
The world is being treated to not one, but three new iPhone devices, as well as a new Apple Watch, and the upgraded Apple 4K TV.
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Here are the five things Verdict is excited about from last night’s announcement.
Bye bye home button
Tim Cook used the classic ‘One More Thing’ moment to announce the tenth anniversary iPhone, iPhone X (which is read as iPhone ten). Whilst most of the new features of the phone were leaked earlier this week, it is a slick piece of kit and the removal of the home button is a pretty exciting feature.
Apple has managed to replace the fingerprint sensor for unlocking the phone, instead adding in hardware for facial recognition. The iPhone X’s camera takes a 3D image of the owner’s face, who can then use this feature to unlock the phone and make payments.
As well, when users want to go back to the home screen, they simply tap the bottom of the screen to go back. This may take some getting used to but it is an interesting feature.
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By GlobalDataPrices for the new iPhone X will start at $999.
Get ready for AR
New bionic chips in the iPhone 8 models and the iPhone X are primed for augmented reality (AR). This is something Apple has been talking a lot about recently, after it launched its ARKit framework.
The new cameras on both devices are tuned to offer accurate motion tracking and the chips are primed to handle world tracking, scene recognition and incredible graphics, according to Apple.
After the success of Pokemon Go last year, more AR games are coming to the fore, like The Walking Dead’s Our World game, which will see players being chased by AR zombies.
With Google also expanding its AR remit, it’ll be interesting to see the capabilities of the Google Pixel 2, slated to be announced in October, and how that stands up to Apple’s powers.
Apple is making the Apple Watch relevant again
Last year, Apple announced that the Apple Watch was one of the top-selling watch brands in the world, alongside the likes of Rolex and Omega. This year, however, the Apple Watch is the number one top-selling watch brand.
Not everyone has been psyched about this extra piece of iOS kit in the past, yet that may change with the Apple Watch Series 3.
The new device has built in LTE support. This means you can use your Watch like a phone, making calls and streaming Apple Music without your phone.
As the Watch is aimed at fitness types, it means you can go for a run with only one device. That is pretty exciting.
Analysts have said this could more than double Apple Watch sales. The prices for the Watch will start at $399.
Looking out for heart health
There’s been a few rumours that Apple is venturing into the healthcare space. Earlier this year, it was revealed that the company had reportedly hired a team of biomedical engineers for a secret initiative to treat diabetes.
Whilst this wasn’t announced at last night’s event, it turns out Apple is carrying out a new study into heart health in conjunction with Stanford Medical School.
The Watch now has an improved heart-rate monitoring system which will help Apple and Stanford gather enough data to see if the Watch can detect common heart problems, such as atrial fibrillation, a condition that causes an abnormal heart rhythm.
Whilst it may seem a bit off putting that Apple is going to be collecting data about your heart, it’s an cool initiative and could pave the way for more Apple/health projects.
Wireless charging is coming
Personally, I’d rather have a device that I didn’t need to charge every day but the new iPhones did not deliver that. The iPhone X claims its battery life is two hours longer than the iPhone 7 but we’ll have to wait to try that out.
However, the new devices all feature glass backs for wireless charging. Apple didn’t announce its own wireless charging device, the Air Power but said it is coming in 2018. You should be able to charge your Airpods on the pad too.
