Apple iPhone Event Today Was a Doozy

Chris Holmes Staff Writer

Updated 12 September 2017

The tech world has been holding its collective breath for the first details on the new iPhones, and today we finally got them.

Apple staged its heavily anticipated "event" this morning at Steve Jobs Theater on the company's new Cupertino campus. Tim Cook, along with a bevy of other speakers, revealed specs on the new iPhone 8, as well as the more dramatically redesigned iPhone X. The new Series 3 Apple Watch and Apple TV 4K were also discussed.

The iPhone X was undoubtedly the star of the show though.

Say hello to the future. iPhone X.
— Apple (@Apple) September 12, 2017

Some of the new features that were announced:

Face ID - facial recognition unlocking
Nearly bezel-less display - similar to the Samsung Galaxy S8's Infinity Display
Million-to-one contrast OLED screen
"The most durable glass ever in a smartphone"
Improved camera
Portrait lighting for pictures
Animoji - design emojis that mirror your expressions and speech
A11 Bionic chipset
Wireless charging

A few of these features are also in the iPhone 8, namely the A11 chip and wireless charging. Incidentally, the 8, what with its modest upgrades, seems more like an iPhone 7s. But who are we to quibble.

A few lucky journalists got their hands on the new devices right after the event.

Check it out: hands-on with the iPhone X with @chrisvelazco pic.twitter.com/S4as137SI3
— Engadget (@engadget) September 12, 2017

The iPhone 8 and iPhone X will both be available in 64 and 256GB configurations. The 8 will start at $699 and the X will start at $999; keep your eyes peeled for WhistleOut's deals for the phones on all of the big carriers.

Apple's naming of the devices left some folks scratching their heads. Like, did they just completely skip over the iPhone 9?

So today Apple announced the iPhone 8 & iPhone X (ten not X).
Maybe it's my OCD kicking in but where the f is the 9??
— Dane Cook (@DaneCook) September 12, 2017

The Series 3 Apple Watch is almost as cool as the iPhone X. It allows for cellular calling, and an Apple employee paddle-boarding in California demonstrated this function.

Woman on a paddle board using her Apple Watch as a phone. pic.twitter.com/CUt23Ni5Ir
— Jay Yarow ?? (@jyarow) September 12, 2017

Apparently the product is now the #1 watch in the world, ahead of Rolex. This new feature is sure to solidify that status.

Are you thinking about picking up an iPhone X or iPhone 8? Let me know at [email protected].

In the meantime, you can shop for the perfect cell phone plan via WhistleOut's comparison tool.

Chris Holmes

Staff Writer

Chris Holmes is a Contributing Writer for WhistleOut, where he covers the cell phone and internet industries. His work has been cited in publications like The Verge, The New York Times, and WIRED.

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