Apple Reveals 'iPhone 8' and 'iPhone 8 Plus' With Glass Bodies and A11 Bionic Chip

Apple today officially announced the all-new "iPhone 8" and 'iPhone 8 Plus." The iPhones are made from glass, combined with an aluminum frame design, and both come in three colors: Silver, Space Gray, and a new Gold finish

The backs of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are made from "the most durable glass ever in a smartphone," according to Apple, and each one is color-matched to an aerospace-grade aluminum bezel. Both devices are splash, water, and dust resistant to IP67 standards.

The iPhone 8 measures in at 4.7 inches and the iPhone 8 Plus is 5.5 inches, like the past few models of iPhone, and they come with a new Retina HD display with True Tone technology. True Tone adjusts the white balance of the display to match the surrounding light so looking at the iPhone 8 provides a "more natural, paper-like" experience.

“iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are a new generation of iPhone that improve on everything we love about iPhone,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have new glass and aluminum designs, new Retina HD displays and A11 Bionic — the smartest chip ever in a smartphone. Packed with more advanced cameras with Portrait mode and Portrait Lighting, and the highest quality video capture in a smartphone, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus enable the freedom of wireless charging, all with AR optimization like no phone ever before.”

Apple said that the speakers have been redesigned and are as much as 25 percent louder and deliver deeper bass than the iPhone 7. All of the iPhone 8's new technology is powered by the A11 Bionic chip, featuring a six-core CPU design with two performance cores and four efficiency cores. A11 Bionic integrates an Apple-designed GPU for "up to 30 percent faster" graphics performance than the A10.

All of these advancements will help boost app performance on the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, particularly including the new ARKit-fueled augmented reality experiences. The A11 Bionic chip handles world tracking, scene recognition, and the GPU enables graphics running at 60fps.

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are each getting a "more advanced" 12-megapixel rear camera, with a faster and larger sensor, new color filter, and deeper pixels. Each smartphone includes Portrait mode with Portrait Lighting, which introduces studio lighting effects to iPhone, letting users change the depth-of-field effect with five different lighting styles.

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The glass backs of the iPhones enable wireless charging on inductive charging pads, and support the Qi ecosystem of accessories. Apple's own mat is called the "AirPower mat" and it'll launch sometime in 2018 with the ability and room to charge an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods simultaneously. Before that, users will be able to purchase mats from Mophie and Belkin to use iPhone 8 inductive charging.

The iPhone 8 will be available in 64GB ($699) and 256GB ($849), while the iPhone 8 Plus will be available in 64GB ($799) and 256GB ($949). Each device will be available to order starting Friday, September 15 and then launch September 22.

Upon launch, the iPhones will be available in the following territories: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UAE, the UK, the US, and US Virgin Islands.