iPhone XS

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See the new iPhone’s ‘focus pixels’ up close

Published September 25, 2018

The new iPhones have excellent cameras, to be sure. But it’s always good to verify Apple’s breathless onstage claims with first-hand reports. We have our own review of the phones and their photography systems, but teardowns provide the invaluable service of letting you see the biggest changes with your own eyes — augmented, of course, by a high-powered microscope.

We’ve already seen iFixit’s solid-as-always disassembly of the phone, but TechInsights gets a lot closer to the device’s components — including the improved camera of the iPhone XS and XS Max.

Although the optics of the new camera are as far as we can tell unchanged since the X, the sensor is a new one and is worth looking closely at.

Microphotography of the sensor die show that Apple’s claims are borne out and then some. The sensor size has increased from 32.8mm² to 40.6mm² — a huge difference despite the small units. Every tiny bit counts at this scale. (For comparison, the Galaxy S9 is 45mm², and the soon-to-be-replaced Pixel 2 is 25mm².)

The pixels themselves also, as advertised, grew from 1.22 microns (micrometers) across to 1.4 microns — which should help with image quality across the board. But there’s an interesting, subtler development that has continually but quietly changed ever since its introduction: the “focus pixels.”

That’s Apple’s brand name for phase detection autofocus (PDAF) points, found in plenty of other devices. The basic idea is that you mask off half a sub-pixel every once in a while (which I guess makes it a sub-sub-pixel), and by observing how light enters these half-covered detectors you can tell whether something is in focus or not.

Of course, you need a bunch of them to sense the image patterns with high fidelity, but you have to strike a balance: losing half a pixel may not sound like much, but if you do it a million times, that’s half a megapixel effectively down the drain. Wondering why all the PDAF points are green? Many camera sensors use an “RGBG” sub-pixel pattern, meaning there are two green sub-pixels for each red and blue one — it’s complicated why. But there are twice as many green sub-pixels and therefore the green channel is more robust to losing a bit of information.Apple introduced PDAF in the iPhone 6, but as you can see in TechInsights’ great diagram, the points are pretty scarce. There’s one for maybe every 64 sub-pixels, and not only that, they’re all masked off in the same orientation: either the left or right half gone.

The 6S and 7 Pluses saw the number double to one PDAF point per 32 sub-pixels. And in the 8 Plus, the number is improved to one per 20 — but there’s another addition: now the phase detection masks are on the tops and bottoms of the sub-pixels as well. As you can imagine, doing phase detection in multiple directions is a more sophisticated proposal, but it could also significantly improve the accuracy of the process. Autofocus systems all have their weaknesses, and this may have addressed one Apple regretted in earlier iterations.

Which brings us to the XS (and Max, of course), in which the PDAF points are now one per 16 sub-pixels, having increased the frequency of the vertical phase detection points so that they’re equal in number to the horizontal one. Clearly the experiment paid off and any consequent light loss has been mitigated or accounted for.

I’m curious how the sub-pixel patterns of Samsung, Huawei and Google phones compare, and I’m looking into it. But I wanted to highlight this interesting little evolution. It’s an interesting example of the kind of changes that are hard to understand when explained in simple number form — we’ve doubled this, or there are a million more of that — but which make sense when you see them in physical form.

Here are the prices of the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR

Published September 12, 2018

Apple just unveiled brand new phones. The iPhone XS and XS Max are the two new flagship devices, replacing the iPhone X. The iPhone XR is replacing the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus with Face ID and an edge-to-edge design.

And maybe you were waiting for this press conference to buy a new smartphone. So here’s a quick rundown of how much you’re going to pay for those devices.

The iPhone XS is are available with 64GB, 256GB or 512GB of storage for $999, $1,149 or $1,349. You need to add $100 on top of that for the iPhone XS Max with a bigger display ($1,099, $1,249 or $1,449). There are three different colors — silver, gold and space gray.

The iPhone XR replaces the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. It will start at $749 for 64GB, with 128GB and 256GB also available for $799 and $899. There will be plenty of color options — white, black, blue, yellow, coral and red.

As a comparison, the iPhone X cost at $999 for the 64GB model and $1,149 for the 256GB model. The iPhone 8 used to cost $699 with 64GB or $849 with 256GB. The iPhone 8 Plus was $100 more expensive for each option ($799 or $949).

In other words, if you’re confused, the iPhone XR is the entry-level device of this year’s iPhone lineup. The iPhone XS and XS Max are the exact same phone in two different screen sizes. They are the premium devices in the lineup, with a better display, better cameras and better material (stainless steel).

For the iPhone XS, pre-orders start on Friday and shipments start on September 21st Pre-orders of the iPhone XR will start on October 19th and ship on October 26th.

If you want something cheaper, the iPhone 7 now costs $449 for 32GB (with 128GB model also available) and the iPhone 8 costs $599 for 64GB (with 256GB model also available).

A quick recap:

iPhone 7: $449/32GB, $549/128GB
iPhone 7 Plus: $569/32GB, $669/128GB
iPhone 8: $599/64GB, $749/256GB
iPhone 8 Plus: $699/64GB, $849/256GB
iPhone XR: $749/64GB, $799/128GB, $899/256GB
iPhone XS: $999/64GB, $1,149/256GB, $1,349/512GB
iPhone XS Max: $1,099/64GB, $1,249/256GB, $1,449/512GB

That’s a long lineup.

Apple introduces the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max

Published September 12, 2018

Another year, another set of brand spankin’ new iPhones. But this year, little has been left to the imagination as leaks have continued to spring up over the course of the past few months.

Today, however, the new iPhone becomes official. Apple has introduced a new models of the premium iPhone, the iPhone XS, which comes in three finishes, gold, silver and space grey.

So let’s take a look at the details.

Design

The new iPhone doesn’t look all that different from the iPhone X, but that is always the case with the “S” years. The phones come in gold, silver and space grey and are made with surgical grade steel, as well as a new glass formulation for durability.

The Apple team has also upgraded the dust and water resistance of the iPhone, bumping it to IP68 rated, with water resistance up to 2 meters deep for several minutes. Schiller added that the phone was tested in many liquids, including orange juice, tea, wine and beer.

Display

The new display on the iPhone XS is a Super Retina OLED display, but it has 60 percent greater dynamic range than the previous generation. Displays come in two sizes — 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch — with 458 pixels per inch.

The bigger phone is called the iPhone XS Max.

Unfortunately, on both models, that notch is still hanging out at the top of the phone, but not without good reason. Housed in that sliver of bezel is an infrared camera, flood illuminator, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, speaker, microphone, front camera, and dot projector.

Much of this, of course, allows for FaceID to continue on this next gen of the iPhones. It has a faster secure enclave and faster algorithms have improved FaceID in the iPhone XS, with Phil Schiller saying it’s the most secure facial authentication in a smartphone ever.

Specs

Perhaps the biggest spec upgrade on the iPhone XS is the new A12 Bionic chip, the industry’s first 7nm chip with 6.9 billion transistors. It has a 6-core CPU, with two high-performance cores that are 15 percent faster and 40 percent lower power than the A11. There’s also a new 4-core GPU in the A12 that’s 50 percent faster with tessellation and multilayer rendering.

Plus, there is a new neural engine with an 8-core dedicated machine learning processor.

So how does that translate to real-world use? Well, the new iPhone XS is capable of 30 percent faster app opens thanks to that A12 Bionic chip.

As is standard with Apple, the company gave some other examples of how this processor will change the way we operate on our phones, including software upgrades from iOS 12 like AR, Memoji, and Siri shortcuts. Apple also did a demo from Bethesda showing off the A12 powering the new Elder Scrolls Blades game.

In the storage department, the iPhone XS comes with up to 512GB of storage.

Camera

The camera has always been a huge feature for the iPhone and this next generation is no exception.

The XS features a 12-megapixel wide camera and 12-megapixel telephoto lens sensor as part of the ongoing dual-camera system on the iPhone. There are, however, new sensors in the wide camera offering a f.18 aperture, with a f.24 aperture on the telephoto lens. TrueTone flash has also been updated with an advanced flicker-detect system.

On the front side, you’ll find a 7-megapixel camera with f2.2 aperture and a faster sensor.

The A12 Bionic chip is helping out, and is now part of the image processing chain with the Image signal processor inside. This offers better facial ‘landmarking’ for red eye reduction and improved portrait mode.

Plus, Apple is introducing something called “Smart HDR.” As Panzarino noted in the live blog, “basically it shoots additional frames of highlight and shadow detail and then uses the Neural Engine to pick the best ones to combine into an HDR photo. This is more frames and theoretically more range represented in the photo than iPhone X.”

Apple has also improved ‘bokeh’ effect, which is the removal of focus or the addition of blur in the background of portrait mode photos. The improvements allow for smoother transitions from foreground to background and better bloom of background shapes.

But it goes beyond the original shot. A new slider will allow users to adjust the depth of field related to a certain camera aperture, letting folks deepen or reduce the depth of field after the photo is taken.

In terms of video, the biggest and most obvious upgrade is that users can record full stereo audio.

Dual-Sim

For the first time, Apple is debuting dual-SIM support for the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. With the exception of China, this will be accomplished through eSIM (or, electronic SIM cards), which will give users the option for a physical SIM slot and a complimentary eSIM.

In China, the iPhone XS will be made with two physical SIM slots because Apple can’t do eSIM in that region.

Put plainly, dual-SIM support allows a user to have two phone numbers on a single phone, like a domestic phone number and an international carrier.

Pricing and Availability

Both the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max come in three configurations: 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB. The iPhone XS starts at $999, while the iPhone XS Max starts at $1099.

Pre-orders begin on Friday, September 14, and the products will ship (and be available in store) on September 21.

Live from Apple’s iPhone event

Published September 12, 2018

Gooooood morning, Cupertino. Today’s the big event at Apple HQ. 2018’s been a slow year for Apple hardware (including a complete no-show at WWDC a few months back). As ever, we’ll be on-hand to help make sense of all the news as it breaks, and you can follow along with our handy live blog below. For those who want it straight from the source, you can follow Apple’s live stream or over on Twitter.

As far as what to expect, by all accounts there’s going to be A LOT. New iPhones are basically a given. Likely there will be a sequel to the iPhone X, along with a cheaper version that keeps the design intact, while swapping the OLED for something a bit cheaper. A new version of the Apple Watch also seems like all but a given at this point. Here’s a rundown of the most likely announcements for today’s big show to help you brace for the news.

Things kick off at 10AM PT, 1PM ET.

Huge leak shows off the new iPhone XS

Published August 30, 2018

Get ready for a leaked look at the new iPhone XS. 9to5Mac has gotten its hands on an image of Apple’s next generation of iPhone hardware, and the future looks pretty swanky.

The leaked image showcases the new sizing of Apple’s soon-to-be-unveiled flagship bezel-less devices, which likely will have 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch screens, respectively. The phones will be called the iPhone XS, according to the report. The pictured devices represent the higher-end OLED screen models, not the cheaper rumored notch LCD iPhone.

The device will feature a new gold color shell. The iPhone X is currently available in space gray and silver.

Image credit: 9to5mac

A picture is worth a thousand words, but there are still a lot of details we’re waiting on here obviously. Apple is expected to show off the new phone hardware as well as a new version of the Apple Watch at a hardware event on September 12.