LIFX just recently introduced HomeKit support for its existing Wi-Fi connected smart bulbs, and today, the company is launching a new product with HomeKit compatibility, the LIFX Tile.
The LIFX Tile is similar to the Nanoleaf Aurora, offering a series of five 7.87-inch square plastic panels that are meant to be attached to a wall using 3M adhesive. Tile panels can be arranged in any configuration, but unlike Aurora, only five panels can be connected to a single controller.
Though only five panels can be connected, there are 64 individually addressable zones in each Tile for creating unique light patterns with multiple colors on each of the squares.
Across five panels, Tile offers 2100 lumens of light and can be set to turn any color just like LIFX bulbs. There's also a dimming feature to control the light output.
According to LIFX, Tile is compatible with HomeKit, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa. Tile connects to a home setup over Wi-Fi, with no hub required to control the lights.
LIFX is charging $250 for its Tile Kit, which includes five tiles and a power pack. Pre-orders are available starting today from the LIFX website, with the product set to ship out in November.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.1 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after releasing tvOS 11 to the public.
Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the tvOS 11.1 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that’s installed using Xcode.
It's not yet clear what new features or changes might be included in the tvOS 11.1 update, but it likely focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements and could perhaps offer up some outward-facing design changes and feature tweaks.
tvOS 11 was something of a minor update, introducing features like full support for AirPods, automatic switching between light and dark mode based on local time, Home screen syncing options designed to keep multiple Apple TVs in a single household in sync, and new background modes and notification support.
We'll update this post when we find out what's new in the tvOS 11.1 beta.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.1 update to developers, just over one week after releasing the new watchOS 4 operating system to the public.
Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS 4 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software update.
To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.
watchOS 4.1 introduces support for streaming music from Apple Music or iCloud Music Library straight to the Apple Watch. There's also a new Radio app that offers up access to Beats 1 live or any Apple Music radio station on the new cellular Apple Watch Series 3 models.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra update to developers, two days after releasing the new High Sierra operating system to the public.
The first macOS High Sierra 10.13.1 beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store with the proper profile installed.
It's not yet clear what improvements the first update to macOS High Sierra will bring, but it's likely to include bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that have been found between the time the golden master was released and its final public launch.
The update could also include features Apple has delayed for a later set of betas, such as iCloud storage for iMessages, and we're also supposed to be getting some new emojis soon.
We'll update this post with any new features that are found in macOS High Sierra 10.13.1.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming iOS 11 update to developers, just over one week after releasing iOS 11 to the public and a day after releasing the first bug fix update, iOS 11.0.1. iOS 11.1, as a major point update, may bring a few new minor features to the operating system along with the standard bug fixes and performance improvements.
Registered developers can download the iOS 11 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.
Several iOS 11 features did not make it into the first public release and these could potentially be included in the iOS 11.1 beta.
Apple has said both peer-to-peer Apple Pay payments and iCloud support for iMessages will be introduced in later iOS 11 updates, and new emoji characters are expected at some point.
iOS 11 marks a major update to the operating system, with systemwide design tweaks, a new Lock screen experience, a revamped Control Center, and an entirely new interface for the iPad that includes a Dock, Drag and Drop support, and a redesigned App Switcher for better than ever multitasking.
Apple has already shared many details on the upcoming Face ID facial recognition feature in the iPhone X through its software engineering chief Craig Federighi, who did several interviews, but now the company has consolidated that information into a new support document and an in-depth security white paper released this morning. [PDF]
If you've been paying attention to Federighi's interviews and all of the Face ID coverage on sites like MacRumors, you may already be familiar with the content of the support document, but it does a good job addressing all common questions and concerns in a single spot.
It outlines the way Face ID works, the conditions in which it works - in the dark, with sunglasses, with hats, etc., and how it's set up, along with security information, including the conditions that will lead to Face ID being disabled:
- The device has just been turned on or restarted. - The device hasn't been unlocked for more than 48 hours. - The passcode hasn't been used to unlock the device in the last six and a half days and Face ID hasn't unlocked the device in the last 4 hours. - The device has received a remote lock command. - After five unsuccessful attempts to match a face. - After initiating power off/Emergency SOS by pressing and holding either volume button and the side button simultaneously for 2 seconds.
Face ID, as Apple has said, adapts to changes in appearance, and the document gives a bit more info on that topic. If there is a major change in appearance, like the disappearance of a full beard or a significant haircut, Apple will require a passcode and then update the stored facial data accordingly once your identity is confirmed.
It also covers privacy, explaining that Face ID is just like Touch ID: protected by the Secure Enclave and handled all on-device, using years of established security protocols. Accessibility and safety are also topics Apple addresses.
In fact, developers do not need to update their Touch ID apps for those apps to work with Face ID because the systems are the same.
The TrueDepth camera system will not cause harm to eyes or skin, says Apple, and if damage is caused to the infrared emitters, the camera will be disabled. Apple warns that repairs will need to be conducted by Apple or an authorized service provider, which should not come as a surprise as the same applies to the Touch ID home button.
The white paper, meanwhile, explains in better detail exactly how the TrueDepth camera and the A11 Bionic processor in the iPhone X work together to accurately identify a face and avoid spoofing.
To counter both digital and physical spoofs, the TrueDepth camera randomizes the sequence of 2D images and depth map captures, and projects a device-specific random pattern. A portion of the A11 Bionic chip's neural engine--protected within the Secure Enclave--transforms this data into a mathematical representation and compares that representation to the enrolled facial data. This enrolled facial data is itself a mathematical representation of your face captured across a variety of poses.
Anyone who plans to buy an iPhone X and has questions about how the Face ID feature on the device works should take a look at both the support document and the white paper, as both together answer many questions on security and functionality.
Face ID will become available to the public starting on November 3, the official launch date for the iPhone X.
Apple this morning launched a revamped and redesigned Privacy website designed to make its privacy policies more accessible to consumers.
The new site better outlines how Apple's commitment to privacy benefits users through concrete examples of features like Apple Pay and an iPhone's passcode, and it explains how Apple uses encryption, Differential Privacy, and strict app guidelines to protect users.
Apple has a section on the new privacy site that cover all of its apps and features, including iMessage, Apple Pay, Health, Analytics, Safari, iCloud, CarPlay, Education, Photos, Siri, Apple Music, News, Maps, and more.
It's incredibly detailed and explains the security measures and privacy features built into each and every feature.
There's also a new feature on how to secure devices with a passcode and Touch ID, and how to keep your Apple ID safe with a strong password, two-factor authentication, and an awareness of scams and phishing attempts. It explains how these features work, and beyond that, why customers should want to use them.
Apple has long had a transparent privacy policy and has outlined all of its privacy practices on its website, but this new site does so in a way that's easier for customers to understand and digest in just a few minutes. For anyone who has a question about one of Apple's products, the new site is worth checking out.
Apple executives Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, formerly of Sony Television, have spent the last few weeks visiting agents and studio executives in Hollywood, spearheading Apple's ongoing attempts to land "big, smart, splashy dramas" in the vein of Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. In a new profile on Apple's ambitions by The Hollywood Reporter, multiple studio chiefs are said to be sending Apple spec scripts and packaged projects as potential options for its big break into the premium TV show space.
Apple is reportedly not interested in spending money at the scale of a rival like Netflix (around $6 billion each year on original content), but multiple reports over the past few months have shown the company's gaining interest in both original "prestige" TV content and major film distribution deals, and that momentum has only picked up in recent weeks.
In recent weeks, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, poached from Sony Television in June to spearhead Apple's content acquisitions and video strategy, have been spotted all over town making their pitch to agents and studio executives. One studio chief says, "Who wouldn't want to be the 'Mad Men' or 'House of Cards' on Apple?"
"There's this sense of, 'It's the most innovative company in the world, of course you want to have a show there,' " says UTA TV head Matt Rice, whose agency, like many of its peers, has inundated the industry's hottest new entrant with spec scripts and packaged projects. Apple, which is famously secretive about its plans, declined to comment for this story.
Apple's newly leased property at the iconic California production site, The Culver Studios, is said to have helped the company "leap-frog" much of the Hollywood competition, with a handful of agents commenting that any project they would take to Netflix or HBO is also being delivered to Apple as well. Apple's so-called "overnight status" as a major player in the business is said to be due to the company's built-in branding, as well as its deep pockets of cash reserves that could be tapped into for the TV drama push.
Some projects have already been lost by Apple's content team, however, including an origin series for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest focused on Nurse Ratched, created by Ryan Murphy and starring Sarah Paulson. Netflix eventually outbid both Apple and Hulu for the show, as well as the ongoing streaming rights for Murphy's American Horror Story anthology series (with new episodes also streamable on Hulu).
Apple is still being "deluged with nearly every script in town," but sources said that Van Amburg, Erlicht, and the rest of Apple's team have passed on most of them, in attempts to keep Apple's penchant for quality alive in its TV shows as well. The team has bids out on a few projects, however, including a reboot of Steve Spielberg's 1980 anthology series Amazing Stories, and a morning show drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.
Other potential partners with Apple include Vince Gilligan, Bryan Cranston, Ron Moore, Ryan Coogler, Mike Schur, and more, who have all been approached by Apple's team recently in some form. The ultimate question, according to talent agency ICM Partners, is finding out where -- and how -- these shows will be streamed.
Still, the lack of clarity has left at least a few, including ICM Partners managing director Chris Silbermann, asking tough questions. "Jamie and Zack are good guys, and they've done business with all of us for decades, and it's Apple, so everybody will sell there," he says. "That being said, they need to articulate to the creative community and the industry at large their marketing, release and distribution strategy. Simply, what does it mean to be an Apple show?"
Check out The Hollywood Reporter's full article on Apple's TV strategy right here.
Since the Google Drive app for iOS was updated earlier this month, several iPhone and iPad users have been unable to open Microsoft Word documents and many other file types in Apple's Files app for iOS 11 or iCloud Drive app for iOS 10.
Instead, when users with the Google Drive app installed attempt to open a DOCX file in the Files or iCloud Drive apps, for example, the Google Drive app automatically opens and displays a prompt to save the file.
MacRumors has been able to duplicate the issue, which is likely a Google Drive problem rather than a Files or iCloud Drive one.
The only solution to the problem for now appears to be uninstalling the Google Drive app. Google has yet to comment on the matter, but it will presumably have to release another update to the Google Drive app to fix this issue.
Update: The issue appears to be the result of Google registering for the "public.data" UTI and setting its handler rank to "owner." Then, the latest update to Google Drive seemingly added open-in-place support for "public.data," which is all data types, and became the default opener for many other file types.
the default opener for every file format who’s owner does not support open in-place.
— Ian McDowell (@ian_mcdowell) September 25, 2017
A source familiar with the matter informed MacRumors that Google is aware of the issue and working on a fix.
Update 2: Google Drive has been updated and no longer hijacks file opening duties in Files or iCloud Drive.
Twitter last night updated its iOS app to version 7.8 to patch a bug that prevented users from uploading photos in high resolution, but the same update also appears to have removed the company's companion Apple Watch app from the App Store. As noticed by users on Reddit and Twitter, after updating the Twitter app on iPhone the Apple Watch app has subsequently vanished, and Twitter has yet to comment on whether or not the app's removal is permanent.
On Apple Watch, Twitter users could view their timeline to browse recent Tweets made by people they follow, check out top trends, and Tweet directly from the Apple Watch using a voice-to-text feature. Now, any mention of Twitter offering an Apple Watch app has been removed from the app's page on the iOS App Store.
MacRumors forum members pointed out earlier this week that the Twitter app on Apple Watch began crashing and had trouble displaying the Twitter icon on notifications following the launch of watchOS 4. This means Twitter could be working on the app behind the scenes to get it up and running again for the new operating system on the Apple Watch, but it's also a possibility that the app is gone for good.
If it is, Twitter will fall in line with a series of high-profile Apple Watch apps that have pulled support for Apple's wearable device this year. Over the course of a few months in the first part of 2017, Google Maps, Amazon, and eBay all quietly removed their Apple Watch apps from the App Store without many people taking notice until May. Google and eBay said the move was to rework the apps and debut new versions later, which has yet to happen.
There are still some third-party Twitter clients with Apple Watch support, including Tweetbot and Twitterific. If Twitter comments on the removal of its Apple Watch app, we'll update this article.
Update: Twitter provided a statement to TechCrunch, although the social network company avoided commenting specifically about the Apple Watch app and its removal from the App Store.
“We heard from people that notifications were the most helpful part of the Apple Watch Twitter experience. With this, we are focusing on supporting more robust, media-rich notifications. We are committed to providing the very best Twitter experience on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Apple Watch, and we’ll continue to iterate and improve our apps across all platforms,” said Dan Jackson, a Twitter spokesperson.
The Wall Street Journal reports that iPhone X production issues were due to a supply imbalance of components dubbed Romeo and Juliet.
The report, citing people familiar with the situation, claims it has taken more time to assemble the Romeo module than the Juliet module, both part of the iPhone X's new TrueDepth facial recognition system for Face ID.
The so-called Romeo module reportedly includes the dot projector that beams more than 30,000 invisible dots to create a precise depth map of your face, while the Juliet module includes the infrared camera that analyzes the pattern.
Earlier this week, both KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and sources speaking with Nikkei Asian Review said the TrueDepth system has indeed been a significant bottleneck for Apple suppliers manufacturing the iPhone X.
One of The Wall Street Journal's sources said the assembly process is now moving smoothly, but the production issues add to concerns about extended shortages when iPhone X sales begin in early November.
iPhone X pre-orders begin October 27, and the device officially launches November 3.
Apple has posted a series of job listings for a future retail store in Bangkok, Thailand, as spotted by local publication The Nation.
Apple retail store in Brussels, Belgium
The company is looking to fill the usual Creative, Expert, Genius, Manager, Store Leader, and Business Leader positions, among others, and applications for the two-year Apple Store Leader Program are also open.
The location will be Apple's first retail store in Thailand, and its second in Southeast Asia, following its Singapore location that opened in May.
In July, the Bangkok Post reported that the store will open in 2018 at the Iconsiam, a future mixed-use development with two shopping malls in Bangkok. The flagship location is said to have over 20,000 square feet of space.
Apple continues to hire for retail stores in Vienna and Seoul as well, which will be the first in Austria and South Korea respectively.
In related news, Apple has announced that its Woodfield store in Schaumburg, Illinois will be relocating to a new unit in the shopping mall on September 30. The current store, opened in August 2001, is Apple's fifth oldest, and one of just four to still have a classic black storefront with two Apple logos.
Apple appears to have resolved long-running iCloud sync issues linked to its text replacement feature with the release of iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra. Originally introduced in Snow Leopard and iOS 5, text replacements let users create shortcut text that, when typed, expands to something longer, thus saving input time.
The feature can be found on iOS devices in Settings -> General -> Keyboards -> Text Replacement, and in System Preferences -> Keyboard on Macs. Ideally, changes to the text snippets list on one device should sync to all devices logged in using the same Apple ID, but that hasn't always been the case, as MacStadium's Brian Stucki attests:
Text replacement syncing is completely broken. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it will only sync back old snippets that you have deleted. Sometimes the sync will work one direction, but not the other. Every time I ask about this on Twitter, it brings a strong response of similar experiences.
After years of struggling to get text replacement syncing to work properly, Stucki recently decided to set up a weeks-long experiment to test the reliability of the feature across hundreds of Apple devices running various versions of iOS and OS X/macOS. In short, Stucki's results suggested that the text replacement syncing service was "a complete mess" and routinely failed to sync text snippets across devices.
Following the experiment, Stucki wondered why the syncing had remained so poor across several generations of OS, given that other iCloud syncing features such as Apple Notes had improved in recent years. As noted by Daring Fireball's John Gruber, these improvements corresponded with the introduction of the CloudKit API in 2014, suggesting that text replacements had not been upgraded to run on the newer syncing framework.
However, in an update to his experiment posted on Tuesday, Stucki reported that when he made text replacement changes on a Mac running macOS High Sierra, surprisingly his edits were recognized and synced across nearly every device on the same Apple ID, regardless of OS. "Perhaps a clean install of High Sierra is now saving snippets correctly?" he wondered.
Since then, iOS developer Guilherme Rambo has claimed that text replacements do sync through CloudKit on iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra, suggesting Apple has got around to updating the feature to run on the more reliable API. So if you're having trouble syncing text snippets, updating your devices to Apple's latest operating systems might be the best course of action.
Update: An Apple spokesperson informed John Gruber later on Wednesday that an update to move text replacement syncing to CloudKit should be rolling out to iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra 10.13 "in the next month or so".
Apple is closing in on its aim to achieve supply/demand balance for its AirPods, with the popular earphones now shipping from the online Apple Store in just three to five business days in the United States, Canada, U.K., Australia, and several other countries around the world.
According to Apple's U.S. website, AirPods ordered today will be delivered between October 4 and October 6, while U.K. customers ordering today are being quoted delivery dates between October 3 and October 5. These are the best estimates Apple has offered since the AirPods launched in December 2016.
AirPods have been in extremely short supply since they became available for purchase, with a typical wait time of six weeks from order to delivery. Only in August did stock begin steadily improving, with shipping estimates dropping to four weeks and then two to three weeks. Earlier this month, estimates improved to one to two weeks, before hitting three to five business days today.
During Apple's third quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple had boosted AirPods production capacity and was "working very hard" to get AirPods to customers as quickly as possible.
Occasionally, Apple retail stores have received stock and third-party retailers like Best Buy have been able to offer AirPods with faster shipping on a regular basis, but those stocks have usually run out fast.
Costing $159, Apple's "truly wireless" AirPods have gained popularity due to their long battery life, capacious charge case, infrared sensors that detect when they're being worn, touch-based gestures, and a built-in W1 chip that improves Bluetooth connection. AirPods are also relatively inexpensive compared to rival "truly wireless" earbuds that have launched in recent months.
Google pulled access to YouTube through Amazon's display-based Echo Show smart speaker on Tuesday, a move that appears to have angered Amazon and led to conflicting public statements by both companies over the sudden move.
"Currently, Google is not supporting Youtube on Echo Show." That's the message Alexa started giving Echo Show owners yesterday afternoon when they tried to access the video service. An Amazon spokesperson later confirmed to The Verge that YouTube was no longer available on Echo Show devices, and offered a statement implying that Google's decision had been an unwelcome surprise.
Google made a change today around 3 pm. YouTube used to be available to our shared customers on Echo Show. As of this afternoon, Google has chosen to no longer make YouTube available on Echo Show, without explanation and without notification to customers. There is no technical reason for that decision, which is disappointing and hurts both of our customers.
Google issued its own statement to The Verge shorty afterwards, contradicting Amazon's assertion that the move had been made without fair warning.
We've been in negotiations with Amazon for a long time, working towards an agreement that provides great experiences for customers on both platforms. Amazon's implementation of YouTube on the Echo Show violates our terms of service, creating a broken user experience. We hope to be able to reach an agreement and resolve these issues soon.
The move comes as a blow to Amazon's hopes for its Echo Show smart speaker, given that it has been marketed with a heavy emphasis on the device's display, which lets users see details related to their Alexa queries and watch online video – food recipes for instance, which are often hosted on YouTube.
Google's decision to pull access reflects similar moves by the company to protect its vision of how the YouTube service should function and appear to users. Earlier this month, Google forced popular iOS app ProTube off the App Store after serving the developer multiple takedown requests because it said the app violated YouTube's terms of service.
Reports of lower than expected first weekend iPhone 8 sales are "overdone," KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told investors in a new note sent out this evening. Kuo says that based on estimates of iPhone 8 production and research data from Localytics, the market is "excessively negative" on iPhone 8 sales.
According to Kuo, first weekend sales of the iPhone 8 were not weak, but stable. He believes Apple is expecting a 50/50 demand split between iPhone X and iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, and sales of the latter two devices are on target when taking that into consideration.
We previously estimated the production weighting of new 2017 iPhone models at roughly 50% iPhone X and 50% iPhone 8/ 8 Plus. This matches what we believe is Apple's (US) estimate for demand. At first glance, the combined first-week adoption rate for the iPhone 8/ 8 Plus might appear low (about half that of iPhone 6s/ 6s Plus and 7/ 7 Plus). However, this is due to the fact that the iPhone X is not included, not because iPhone 8/ 8 Plus first weekend sales have been weak.
Recent data from Localytics found that the iPhone 8 Plus is more popular than the iPhone 8, which Kuo says aligns with KGI's production-side observations. While sales were lower overall, the iPhone 8 Plus saw the strongest first weekend adoption rate of any Plus-sized iPhone to date.
We note that production of the iPhone 8 versus 8 Plus in 3Q17F is roughly split down the middle of a total of 16-18mn units. This reflects Apple's thinking that demand for these two models will be similar, at least in the early stages. In reality, according to Localytics, iPhone 8 Plus sales fared slightly better than those of the iPhone 8 during the first weekend, while the former's shipping time was longer, according to Apple's online store.
Kuo believes the market is negative on first weekend iPhone 8 sales because market analysts rely overmuch on observed sales momentum in unlocked/SIM-free channels such as the Apple Store, while overlooking sales momentum within carrier channels.
iPhone 8 lines outside of Apple retail stores were indeed shorter this year than in past years, says Kuo, but there was stable first weekend demand within carrier channels. Most people who camp outside of Apple Stores to purchase devices are "presumably hardcore Apple fans and heavy users" who are waiting for the iPhone X, which he says explains the perceived lack of demand.
Though Kuo believes first weekend sales of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are on track, he warns that iPhone 8 and 8 Plus shipment momentum may not be stable and needs to be closely monitored as the launch of the iPhone X approaches.
Following the release of macOS High Sierra, Mac users have discovered that Apple is no longer listing previous operating system updates in a user's Purchased tab in the Mac App Store.
Neither macOS Sierra nor macOS High Sierra show up in the Purchased list, suggesting the updates are no longer tied to an Apple ID account. Previous Mac software updates were linked to an Apple ID account and updating required an Apple ID and password, something that could be a hassle when a Mac changed ownership.
An Apple support document on reinstalling apps confirms that the change to remove macOS Sierra and High Sierra from the Purchased tab was intentional.
"macOS Sierra or later doesn't appear in the Purchased tab," reads the document.
In the case of macOS Sierra, the change means that there's no way for Mac users to download macOS Sierra should they want to downgrade from High Sierra for some reason.
OS X El Capitan, OS X Yosemite, OS X Mavericks, and earlier updates are all tied to a user account and listed in the Mac App Store. Apple has also made a link to the OS X El Capitan update available through a support document, but no similar support document is available for macOS Sierra.
With two of Apple's newest iPhones in hand, the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus, we thought we'd compare them to the previous-generation iPhones, the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus, to give our readers a clear picture of the differences between the devices and an idea of whether the new phones are worth the upgrade.
We checked out a 64GB iPhone 8 Plus in the new rosier Gold shade and a 64GB iPhone 8 in the new dark Space Gray color. Design wise, there's a noticeable difference between the iPhone 8 models and the iPhone 7 models just due to the new glass body.
It's sleeker, heavier, easier to hold, and it looks great with the seven-layer color process Apple used to create the colors for this generation. The display looks pretty much the same as the display in the iPhone 7, but with True Tone, it's able to adjust to the ambient lighting conditions in a room for a more natural paper-like viewing experience.
Other than that, the bezels are the same, there's still the same old Touch ID home button for people who prefer Touch ID, all of the buttons and components are in the same places, and it's IP67 water resistant. One notable difference -- the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have more powerful speakers.
There is, of course, also the wireless charging component. The iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus both charge wirelessly on Qi-certified charging mats, and this charging functionality works through a case. The smartphones also include a new A11 processor that brings serious speed gains, but these improvements aren't always noticeable in every day use over the iPhone 7's A10 chip.
So, should you upgrade? Most people who are coming from an iPhone 7 or an iPhone 7 Plus aren't going to notice a world of difference aside from the implementation of wireless charging and some camera improvements, so it may not be worth the cost to buy one of the new devices. Those coming from an iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, or earlier iPhone will see notable speed, camera, and performance improvements, making a purchase more worthwhile.
Lots of people are still holding out for the iPhone X with its radical redesign, despite the fact that it's a good deal more expensive than the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus at its $999 starting point. That device offers up an edge-to-edge screen and facial recognition, but it's going to be hard to get and some people may prefer the Touch ID and more standard design of the 8 and the 8 Plus.
