On Tuesday, Apple held its annual iPhone announcement event at the Steve Jobs Theatre in Cupertino, California. Here’s a rundown of everything unveiled at the event.
The event – which has become something of a highlight of the tech world every September – saw three new iPhones, a new Apple Watch, and a new iPad unveiled, along with details on Apple Arcade and the long-awaited Apple TV+. The focus of the event were the three new iPhones – the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The iPhone 11, designed as a sequel to the budget iPhone XR, was the first new handset announced. Available in white, purple, yellow, black, green and Product Red, the iPhone 11 features a 6.1inch Liquid Retina display, the same size as last year’s iPhone XR. The dimensions are 150.9mm x 75.7mm x 8.3mm, and it weighs 194g. Like the XR, the 11 is water resistant, with an IP68 rating, and can withstand 30 minutes in up to two metres of water; you can read more about water resistant smartphones and their ratings here. The focus this year, though, was on the significant upgrades to the iPhones’ cameras. All new iPhone models now have a dual lens, which was previous confined to the upper models. The iPhone 11 comes with a 12MP wide camera with a 26mm lens, paired with a 12MP ultra-wide camera. Image stabilisation has been improved, too. The front-facing camera is a 12MP TrueDepth camera, and for the first time, can record video in 4K resolution. The chip inside is called the A13 Bionic, which Apple claim is the fastest in a smartphone; to show off just how powerful it is, some game footage was demonstrated. The iPhone 11 is available in three capacities – 64GB, costing £729, 128GB, only £50 more at £779, and 256GB, which will set you back £879.
The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max comes in two sizes – 5.8inch and 6.5inch. Both models feature a new screen that Apple have dubbed the Super Retina XDR Display, with a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical) – that’s more than double the previous model. Rated IP68, these two iPhones can withstand up to 30 minutes, but this time up to a maximum depth of four metres. Like the iPhone 11, the 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max utilise the A13 Bionic chip. The big selling point for the two Pro models, however, is the three-way lens array. In addition to the two previously mentioned cameras on the iPhone 11, these two iPhones also feature a telephoto camera. The iPhone 11 Pro is available with 64GB of storage for £1049, 256GB for £1,199, and 512GB for £1,399. The iPhone 11 Pro Max is available starting at £1,149 for the 64GB model, £1,299 for the 256GB model, with 512GB costing you a whopping £1,499. All three iPhone models will be available to pre-order from tomorrow (September 13th), and available to buy on September 20th.
Apple also announced further details on the Apple TV+ streaming service. Costing £4.99 a month, Apple TV+ is aiming to challenge the dominance of services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, as well as the upcoming Disney+. Apple’s streaming service will offer original content, but won’t cover licensed content like Netflix or Amazon Prime, at least just yet.
