13 September 2017

iPhone 8 and 8 Plus to be available in late September

Apple has announced the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. The new iPhone features a new glass and aluminium design in three colours, Retina HD displays and the A11 Bionic chip, and is designed for augmented reality (AR).
Source: Apple. The new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus feature all-glass designs.
Source: Apple. The new iPhone 8 and iPhone
8 Plus feature all-glass designs.

Single and dual cameras featuring Portrait Lighting on iPhone 8 Plus, and wireless charging bring new capabilities to the iPhone family. 

“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 VP, Worldwide Marketing. “IPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have new glass and aluminium 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 optimisation like no phone ever before.”

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus introduce a glass backed design made with "the most durable glass ever" in three new finishes: space grey, silver and gold. The glass finish is made using a seven-layer colour process for precise hue and opacity, complemented with a colour-matched aerospace-grade aluminium bezel. Both smartphones are water- and dust-resistant1.

The new 4.7" and 5.5" Retina HD displays with the addition of True Tone adjust the white balance of the display to match the surrounding light for a more natural, paper-like viewing experience. The Retina HD display offers good colour accuracy. Redesigned stereo speakers are up to 25% louder and deliver deeper bass.

The A11 Bionic chip ever in a smartphone features a six-core CPU design with two performance cores that are 25% faster and four efficiency cores that are 70% faster than the A10 Fusion. A new, second-generation performance controller can harness all six cores simultaneously, delivering up to 70% greater performance for multithreaded workloads. A11 Bionic also integrates an Apple-designed GPU with a three-core design that delivers up to 30% faster graphics performance than the previous generation.

The cameras on iPhone 8 Plus are custom-tuned for AR. Each camera is individually calibrated, with new gyroscopes and accelerometers for accurate motion tracking. AR benefits from A11 Bionic, which handles world tracking, scene recognition and graphics at 60fps, while the image signal processor does real-time lighting estimation. With ARKit, iOS developers are taking advantage of the world’s largest AR platform, creating games and apps offering immersive experiences.

The improved 12-megapixel camera has a larger and faster sensor, a new colour filter and deeper pixels. A new Apple-designed image signal processor delivers advanced pixel processing, wide colour capture, faster autofocus in low light and better HDR photos, while a new quad LED True Tone Flash with Slow Sync results in more uniformly lit backgrounds and foregrounds.

The new camera also delivers high quality video capture with better video stabilisation, 4K video up to 60fps and 1080p slo-mo up to 240fps. The Apple-designed video encoder provides real-time image and motion analysis for optimal quality video. With iOS 11, both iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus support HEIF and HEVC for up to two times compression and storage for twice the photos and videos.

The iPhone 8 Plus features dual 12-megapixel cameras and introduces Portrait mode with Portrait Lighting, bringing studio lighting effects to iPhone. Users can create portraits with a shallow depth-of-field effect in five different lighting styles. Portrait Lighting is based on extensive research into the art and science of portraiture and core photographic lighting principles. It uses the dual cameras and the Apple-designed image signal processor to recognise the scene, create a depth map and separate the subject from the background. Machine learning is then used to create facial landmarks and add lighting over contours of the face, all in real time2.

The glass backed design enables wireless charging. Wireless charging works with the established Qi ecosystem, including two new compatible wireless charging mats from Belkin and mophie, available from apple.com/sg and Apple Stores. Apple also gave a sneak peek of AirPower, an Apple-designed wireless charging accessory coming in 2018. The new Apple-designed AirPower mat, coming in 2018, will allow iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus or iPhone X customers to simultaneously charge up to three devices, including Apple Watch Series 3 and AirPods.

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus come with iOS 11, which brings AR to hundreds of millions of iOS devices. Siri debuts new male and female voices and can translate US English phrases into Chinese, among other new languages, and uses on-device learning to deliver more personal experiences.

Interested?

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will be available in space grey, silver and an all-new gold finish in increased 64GB and 256GB capacity models starting at S$1,148 from apple.com/sg and Apple Stores and is also available through Apple Authorised Resellers and select carriers (prices may vary).

Both devices are available for preordering beginning September 15 in more than 25 countries and territories, and in stores from September 22. Within the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions customers will be able to order the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus beginning September 15, with availability beginning September 22, in Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the UAE. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will be available in Bahrain, India, KSA, Kuwait, and Qatar beginning September 29.

In Singapore, StarHub will offer the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus starting 22 September 2017. Pricing starts from S$424 with a new plan. Customers can begin registering their interest for iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus till noon of 15 September. StarHub customers can also register their interest for the iPhone X.

Apple-designed accessories including leather and silicone cases in a range of colours will be available starting at S$48. Lightning Docks in colour-matching metallic finishes will also be available for S$68.

Every customer who buys iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus from Apple will be offered free Personal Setup, in-store or online, to help them customise their iPhone by setting up email, showing them new apps from the App Store and more3.

Those in Singapore who want to start with the basics or go further with iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus or iOS 11 can sign up for free Today at Apple sessions.

Portrait Lighting samples:

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog posts on the new iPhone X and the Apple Watch Series 3.

1 The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are splash, water and dust resistant, and were tested under controlled laboratory conditions with a rating of IP67 under IEC standard 60529. Splash, water and dust resistance are not permanent conditions, and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear. Do not attempt to charge a wet iPhone; refer to the user guide for cleaning and drying instructions. Liquid damage not covered under warranty.

2 Portrait Lighting launches in beta.

3 In most countries.