As standard with every year around September or so, Apple has rolled out a set of new iPhones– the iPhone 8, 8+, and the more intriguing iPhone X. The main differences between the three products are the screen, cameras, and, most notably, price.
The iPhone 8 and 8+ share many similarities to the iPhone 7, with the only drastic design change being the addition of a glass back to allow for wireless charging. While it’s practical, it’s a lot less durable than the aluminum used on previous phones, resulting in a larger chance of the back shattering if dropped. The rest of the notable changes are inside of the phone: a better camera, a better A11 Fusion processor, and a slightly better screen. While all of these mentioned features are nice additions, if you already own an iPhone 7, it’s not worth it to upgrade and fork over an additional $700 for a phone that’s only a fraction faster of your current one.
The most interesting announcement from Apple’s event is undoubtedly the iPhone X, which is pronounced “iPhone 10”, to represent of the Roman numeral X. This new release marks the tenth anniversary of the iPhone. The screen takes up all edges of the phone except the top, where there’s a designated notch housing the camera and a variety of sensors. One notable change is the home button is now entirely gone and is replaced with swiping up from the bottom of the phone to navigate. Touch ID has been replaced with Face ID, which now scans your face rather than your fingerprint. This raises some security concerns, with the possibility that your phone could be unlocked with a picture of you. However, that has yet to be tested, so we can hope that Apple has a workaround.
Unfortunately, while the new iPhone looks good, it definitely costs as much as it looks: a hefty $1,000 for 64GB of storage, or a whopping $1,150 for 256GB. I put out a twitter poll, asking Vista students whether or not they’d be willing to pay $1,000 for the iPhone X, and the results are about what you’d expect. Among 137 votes, 66% of Mountain Vista students deemed the phone to be not worth it, with another 27% claiming it would be a good investment provided they had the money. Surprisingly, 7% of students are planning on purchasing the phone, even with its four-figure price tag.
The iPhone X is one of the most exciting phones of 2017 thus far and is a step in the right direction for Apple to put out beautiful hardware with the exception of a steep price tag. For those interested, it will be released to the public November 3rd, with pre-orders beginning October 27th. However, the iPhone 8 releases September 22nd, so if you’re not interested in paying a hefty 1 grand, then I’d recommend it. Hopefully, the release of the iPhone X will be one of Apple’s biggest and most successful since the iPhone 5 and will steer the company in the direction of more futuristic products.
