The iPhone 11 is the successor to the
iPhone XR from last year, which Apple says became the most popular iPhone and
also the most popular smartphone worldwide since its launch. While a lot of
things have remained the same, including the display, there are quite a few
changes.
First off, the iPhone 11 starts at US$ 699, which is US$ 50 less than its predecessor. At the same time, it packs a brand new ultrawide
camera on the rear, which enables what Apple calls 2x optical zoom out, as it's
a 13mm equivalent while the main 12 MP snapper is 26mm equivalent.
The 12 MP ultra-wide sensor has a 120-degree
field-of-view and f/2.4 aperture. The main cam has f/1.8 aperture and OIS. New
camera features include enhanced Smart HDR and a Night Mode that automatically
triggers when it's needed. The dual-tone LED flash is now 36% brighter.
The video stabilization has been improved and it's
now called Cinematic. Apple says this phone shoots the highest quality videos
ever, compared to any smartphone. You can record quick videos by holding the
shutter button while in photo mode. Audio Zoom matches the audio to the video
framing. The iPhone 11 shoots at up to 4K@60fps, and with Extended Dynamic
Range at up to 4K@50fps. This with both rear shooters. On the front there's a wider lens
for the 12 MP selfie cam, which means you can fit more people into the frame if
you flip the phone into landscape mode. The selfie cam can shoot in 4K@60fps
too, and 4K EDR at 30fps. Not only that, but it's also got 120fps slow-mo
recording capabilities, to create what Apple calls "slofies". Smart
HDR is a feature of the front-facing shooter as well.
Face ID is 30% faster and works from extended
angles, while the glass on both the front and back is now the toughest ever put
in a smartphone, with a 3D sculptural look where the camera island is on the
rear. The iPhone 11 has spatial audio and Dolby Atmos.
Running the show is the new A13 Bionic chipset,
which is 20% more powerful than the A12 from last year and beats the Snapdragon
855 in both CPU and GPU performance in Apple's testing. The iPhone 11 will be
available in black, yellow, green, white, purple and PRODUCT(RED). As for
battery life, you should get one extra hour compared to the iPhone XR. he iPhone 11 packs IP68 water and
dust resistance (up to 30 minutes submerged in up to 2m of water), Wi-Fi 6, and
faster Gigabit LTE. As rumored ad nauseam, there's no 5G on this year's
iPhones.
Pre-orders start this Friday, on September 13, and
the iPhone 11 will be available on September 20 in the first wave of more than
30 countries including the US. The iPhone 11 is offered with 64/128/256GB of
storage. If you trade-in an old iPhone, you can save up to $300 on a new iPhone
11. The iPhone XR will remain on sale, at US$ 599. If you buy an iPhone 11 you'll
receive a free year of Apple TV+, while Apple Arcade will be available for it
for US$ 4.99 per month after a free one-month trial. The iPhone 11 runs iOS 13,
which will be released for older devices on September 19.
Coming later this fall, Deep Fusion, enabled by the
Neural Engine of the A13 Bionic chip, is a new image processing system that
uses advanced machine learning to do pixel-by-pixel processing of photos,
optimizing them for texture, details, and noise in every part. With iOS 13.1,
which will be out on September 30, AirDrop will get better with directionally
aware suggestions, powered by the new U1 chip that uses Ultra Wideband
technology for the first time ever in a smartphone.
