Apple on Tuesday hosted its first-ever event at Steve Jobs Theater, where it unveiled the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X.

iphone x vs iphone 8 and 8 plus
iPhone X is Apple's new flagship smartphone, with a stainless steel frame sandwiched between a nearly edge to edge OLED display on the front and glass on the back. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus also received a glass-backed design, but otherwise the devices look virtually the same as the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

iPhone X starts at $999 in the United States, while the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus start at $699 and $799 respectively.

If cost wasn't a factor, the iPhone X is undoubtedly the better smartphone in more ways than one. But the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are very capable smartphones as well, so when there is at least $200 or $300 in savings to be had, it's worth considering which of the three smartphones best suits your needs. Find out ahead…

iPhone X vs. iPhone 8 and 8 Plus: What's the Same?

a11 bionic iphone x
A11 Bionic: All three iPhones have an A11 chip. It has two performance cores that are 25 percent faster, and four high-efficiency cores that are 70 percent faster, than the A10 chip in iPhone 7. The chip has a neural engine for facial recognition and an embedded M11 motion coprocessor.

Wireless Charging: All three iPhones have wireless charging based on the Qi standard. Each device can charge by being placed on an inductive charging pad, such as third-party options from accessory makers such as Mophie, Belkin, and Incipio.

Fast Charging: All three new iPhones are "fast-charge capable," which means the two devices can be charged to 50 percent battery life in 30 minutes using Apple's 29W, 61W, or 87W USB-C Power Adapters, sold separately and included with 12-inch MacBook and late 2016 or later MacBook Pro models.

iphone x wireless charging
Water Resistance: All three iPhones have IP67-rated water and dust resistance like the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

Storage: 64GB or 256GB.

True Tone and Wide Color: iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus have True Tone and Wide Color displays. True Tone automatically adapts the color and intensity of the display to match the color temperature of the light in its surrounding environment. Wide Color is use of the P3 color space.

3D Touch: Deeply press the screen to preview emails, messages, and other content, and access convenient Quick Actions.

4K video recording at up to 60 FPS and 1080p HD video recording at up to 60 FPS.

LTE Advanced with VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.0, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and read-only NFC.

• Lightning connector.

iPhone X vs. iPhone 8 and 8 Plus: What's Similar?

Rear Camera System: iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus both have 12-megapixel rear-facing dual cameras consisting of a telephoto lens and a wide-angle lens with ƒ/1.8 aperture. Both have quad-LED True Tone flash, optical zoom, digital zoom up to 10x, and support for Apple's new beta Portrait Lighting feature.

iphone 8 plus dual lens gold silver
Where the iPhone X prevails is with dual optical image stabilization. iPhone 8 Plus only has optical image stabilization for the wide-angle lens. iPhone X's telephoto lens also has a faster ƒ/2.4 aperture compared to ƒ/2.8 for the iPhone 8 Plus. Of course, the iPhone X prevails much further vs. the single-lens iPhone 8.

Front Camera Sensor: While the iPhone X's new TrueDepth system as a whole is a significant change, the front-facing camera itself is a 7-megapixel sensor with ƒ/2.2 aperture, Retina Flash, and 1080p HD video recording on all three iPhones. The difference on the iPhone X is support for Portrait Mode selfies.

Battery Life: All three iPhones have similar battery life for internet use and video playback over wireless. iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus also have identical battery life for talk time and audio playback over wireless, which are two areas where the smaller iPhone 8 does fall much shorter.

iPhone X

• Talk: Up to 21 hours
• Internet: Up to 12 hours
• Video: Up to 13 hours
• Audio: Up to 60 hours

iPhone 8 Plus

• Talk: Up to 21 hours
• Internet: Up to 13 hours
• Video: Up to 14 hours
• Audio: Up to 60 hours

iPhone 8

• Talk: Up to 14 hours
• Internet: Up to 12 hours
• Video: Up to 13 hours
• Audio: Up to 40 hours


Memory: iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus are believed to have 3GB of RAM, while the iPhone 8 likely has 2GB of RAM.

iPhone X vs. iPhone 8 and 8 Plus: What's Different?

All-Screen OLED Display: iPhone X is Apple's first smartphone with an OLED display, which has benefits such as improved color accuracy and contrast ratio, true blacks, and a much higher 1,000,000 to one contrast ratio. And without bezels, beyond a notch for the TrueDepth front camera system, the iPhone X is nearly all screen.

iphone x screen
iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus still have LCD displays with top and bottom bezels like every iPhone before them, but they do gain True Tone functionality like the iPhone X. True Tone automatically adapts the color and intensity of the display to match the color temperature of the light in its surrounding environment.

iPhone X

• 5.8-inch OLED display
• HDR
• 2436×1125 pixels
• 458 PPI
• 625 cd/m2 max brightness
• 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio

iPhone 8 Plus

• 5.5-inch LCD display
• —
• 1920×1080 pixels
• 401 PPI
• 625 cd/m2 max brightness
• 1300:1 contrast ratio

iPhone 8

• 4.7-inch LCD display
• —
• 1334×750 pixels
• 326 PPI
• 625 cd/m2 max brightness
• 1400:1 contrast ratio


New Size: Despite having a large 5.8-inch display, the iPhone X's all-screen design allows it to be between an iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus in both size and weight. For that reason, the iPhone X is the best choice for a smartphone with the maximum display size vs. one-handed usability.

iPhone X

• Height: 5.65 in (143.6 mm)
• Width: 2.79 in (70.9 mm)
• Depth: 0.30 in (7.7 mm)
• Weight: 6.14 oz (174 grams)

iPhone 8 Plus

• Height: 6.24 in (158.4 mm)
• Width: 3.07 in (78.1 mm)
• Depth: 0.30 in (7.5 mm)
• Weight: 7.13 oz (202 grams)

iPhone 8

• Height: 5.45 in (138.4 mm)
• Width: 2.65 in (67.3 mm)
• Depth: 0.29 in (7.3 mm)
• Weight: 5.22 oz (148 grams)


Face ID / TrueDepth: Apple replaced Touch ID with Face ID on iPhone X. Simply raise the device, look at it, and swipe up on the screen to unlock the device or authenticate your identity for Apple Pay. Apple said there's a one in a million chance the facial recognition system could be duped by a stranger.

face id iphone x
No Home Button: Given the lack of a Home button, the iPhone X has an elongated side button. Siri is activated by double tapping that side button, or by saying "Hey Siri" as previously. Other gestures include swiping up to return to the Home screen, swiping up and pausing to view multitasking, and tap to wake.

No Gold: iPhone X comes only in Space Gray and Silver.

Animoji: Animoji are Apple's new set of emoji-style characters that animate based on an iPhone user's facial expression. Animoji take advantage of the iPhone X's new TrueDepth camera system, which features several new 3D sensors to detect your facial expressions in real time.

jony ive animoji

Conclusion

iPhone X has many of the best features of an iPhone 8 Plus, including a larger display, yet the device is closer to an iPhone 8 in size.

iPhone X benefits from far superior display technology and the TrueDepth system, which powers Face ID, Animoji, and Portrait Mode selfies. But the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are equally as fast, support wireless charging, and still have a Home button with Touch ID for those who prefer fingerprint authentication.

Apple markets the iPhone X as the "future," and that's likely true for its smartphones, but it'll cost you an extra $200 or more to get there.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

fizzyfizz Avatar
102 months ago
I'll stick with the 8. I can't get past that notch overlapping photos and videos.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Hermes Monster Avatar
102 months ago
That list of what's different for your $/£200 doesn't make great reading.

I'll wait another year for an upgrade on the upgrade.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
102 months ago
I'll stick with the 8. I can't get past that notch overlapping photos and videos.
Doesn’t do that unless you tell it to. You can choose letterbox or full zoom.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BMcCoy Avatar
102 months ago
I'll stick with my SE.

I like: squared, not curved, screen corners,
no notch cutout in my videos
A home button with TouchID
a headphone socket
A sensible price
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iPhysicist Avatar
102 months ago
N1 apple.
Since the EUR gained value to the USD how is 799€ justified for the LCD iPhone? Like I said, I'll be a happy S8 owner soon. Goodbye iOS.
Bye have fun with the S8.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
QCassidy352 Avatar
102 months ago
Good write up, thanks. The iPhone x seems totally underwhelming compared to the 8. "What's different" is an alarmingly short section of the write up given the two or three hundred dollar difference. Also, although edge to edge screen is beautiful, I consider the loss of the home button and touch ID to be pretty severe negatives.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...