Every year around the first two weeks of SeptemberApple unveils their brand new iPhones. They host a huge event and invite press all the way from established press to even small time YouTubers. 2018 as we’ve said many times before has become the era of the smartphone leaks. So weeks before the actual reveal we knew pretty much everything about the new lineup. We knew there were going to be three iPhones revealed this time around. Two high end variants to replace the iPhone X and one “cheap” iPhone whose details were still up in the air. Last night Apple finally took the covers off their brand new iPhone. And we have to say, its probably the most underwhelming iPhone launch ever.

Bringing 7nm to the mainstream

Lets start off with the highest end iPhone, the XS. And essentially what Apple changed with the iPhone X was to add a new processor, some updated software around their dual rear camera system, bigger battery but we still don’t know the exact mAH size, a new gold color option, IP68 water resistance certification and that’s it. Now before we get into the nitty gritty stuff. Lets discuss all the positives from the event. For starters lets appreciate the fact that Apple is the first company to bring the 7nm process to the mainstream.

That is a pretty big deal if we’re honest. Companies likeNvidia, AMD and Intel are still working to bring 7nm to their products. And here Apple is taunting their brand new 7nm in-house processors. The processor on all three new iPhones will be the A12 Bionic.  If you think the Snapdragon 845 is powerful, then just wait until benchmarks for the A12 come out. The A12 bionic will feature a 6 core CPU, 4 core GPU and an 8 core neural engine for machine learning applications. The CPU has two high performance cores, and four low power cores.

The two high performance cores are 15% more powerful than the A11 high performance cores, but more amazing is the fact that they draw upto 40% less power overall. The low performance cores are even better drawing 50% less power than before. The GPU is now 50% faster as well. Apple showcased a brand new mobile game from the Skyrim series at their keynote. The graphics were something you’d see from a modern day console game! So its clear Apple went above and beyond to create arguably the most powerful smartphone to date.

Same design, new color

Moving on to the design of the iPhone XS. Its exactly the same as the previous iPhone X excluding a new gold color option. Now we understand this is Apple’s “S” model, which mostly just features slight design changes rather than an aesthetic overhaul. But they could have done something to differentiate from the previous model. I mean how are people going to know you have the new iPhone unless you go for the gold color option

Apple also released a new plus sized model of the iPhone XS. But instead of calling it the iPhone XS Plus, they called it the XS Max. Now just to clarify Apple is a trillion dollar company. And the best thing they could come up with is Max. The XS Max features a 6.5 inch screen, while the XS has a 5.8 inch screen. Both screens are edge to edge, featuring 458 ppi, and the now familiar notch. Apple claims you’ll now get better battery life as well. But they refused to reveal the mAH rating. So we’re gonna say expect little to no improvements in battery life.

They also get dual sim support. A feature we’ve found on Android phones for years and they tout it as a brand new “revolutionary” feature. Then we move on to price. The iPhone XS starts at $999, while the XS Max starts at $1099. But to add insult to injury they’ve kept the stock storage option as 64GB. A phone that cost’s well over $1000 and comes with 64GB storage, sorry Apple but that’s unforgivable. The highest end 512GB on the XS Max goes to nearly $1500. You could buy a base 13-inch Macbook Pro for that.

The “Cheap” iPhone

Now its time to finally discuss to what Apple is touting as the “cheap” iPhone. And what’s the starting price for this cheap iPhone you may ask? At a cool $749 for the base model. That is still very much flagship money. And in a world of OnePlus 6s and Pocophone F1s that is still quite a bit of money for a smartphone. So what do you get for you $749. Well for starters you get the same amazing A12 Bionic chip inside, the same notch design albeit with thicker bezels, a single rear camera but it still retains Apple’s portrait mode features, and face-ID.

But that’s where the good new ends. Lets start off with the screen. Its a 6.1 inch LCD screen rather than an OLED panel. Now that isn’t too bad as Apple makes some of the best LCD panels on the market. But it comes with a ppi count of 326 ppi. A 2018 flagship that features the same ppi count found on the iPhone 4! A phone that was released over 8 years ago. Again Apple what were you thinking ? Its 2018 a ppi count below 450 ppi is reserved for budget phones. And a lot of the times even they don’t go as low as 326 ppi.

For the XR Apple has decided to release 6 color options. You get a choice between Black, White, Blue, Yellow, Coral and Product Red. Now here’s another blow to future XR buyers. Apple doesn’t consider the XR premium enough to even call the black “Space Grey”. It’s a small nit bit that we’re probably diving a bit to deep into, but it’s still something we thought to mention.

The new iPhones are now available for pre-order from September 14, and will ship out on September 21st. The iPhone XR on the other hand will begin pre-orders 19th October, and begin shipping 26th October. Despite everything that we’ve just said we’re pretty sure these iPhones will fly off the shelves. Be sure to keep tuned to Xormeta for all your content surrounding the brand new iPhones.