Experts weigh in on the new iPhone 8 and 8 Plus ahead of launch

[Shawn Knight]

(Image courtesy James Bareham, The Verge)

It’s that time of year again as two of the biggest players of the season are about to take the field. I’m of course referring to Apple’s new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, two of three new A11 Bionic-powered handsets unveiled a week ago.

Early review embargos lift today on the standard upgrades ahead of Friday's launch (the iPhone X is still more than a month away). Here’s what the experts are saying.

Design-wise, not much has changed as Nilay Patel from The Verge highlights:

The iPhone 8 is fundamentally the fourth generation of the iPhone 6 — Apple told us it thinks of the 8 as an “all-new design,” but that’s also what Apple said about the iPhone 6S and 7. It must take a lot of effort to keep reinventing the same basic design without actually changing it. The major difference you’ll notice is the glass back, but other than that nothing has changed — the 8 and 8 Plus will fit right into 7 and 7 Plus cases perfectly.

At the end of the day, you’re looking at the same basic idea as the iPhone 6, and the iPhone 6 is far from the most beautiful iPhone Apple has ever made. I’ve been calling out the basic clunkiness of the 6 design since the 6 came out in 2014, when I wrote that “The iPhone 6 Plus isn’t beautiful the way the iPhone 4 was beautiful.” In 2015, I wrote that the iPhone 6S Plus “feels particularly surfboard-y” and that it was “almost designed to be put in a case.” And last year, I wrote that “nothing about the iPhone 7’s design exceeds the rest of the industry.”

(Photo courtesy Chris Velazco, Engadget)

Matthew Panzarino with TechCrunch touches on the A11 Bionic chip:

Apple’s A11 chip has performance that’s on par with an i5 MacBook Pro — and that’s when it’s limited by having to sit on a battery-powered device. A custom designed performance controller — a CPU traffic cop — sits between six cores tuned to higher or lower performance tasks.

This is all opaque to you, the user, of course. But what it means is that you get more power but the same amount of battery life. It’s an even more impressive feat when you realize that the battery is actually physically smaller than last year’s models.

Wireless charging is on the docket from Wired writer David Pierce:

The first is wireless charging, a decade-old tech that’s finally made its way into the iPhone. Apple doesn’t make a wireless charger yet—the AirPower mat comes next year—but the iPhone 8 works with any pad using the popular Qi standard. The phone charges quite a bit slower on the pad than plugged into the wall, but it’s worth it for the freedom. Wireless charging makes the iPhone feel less like a Tamagotchi needing constant feeding, and more like a digital sidekick that’s always ready to go. Pick it up when you need it, put it down when you don’t; whenever you’re not using your phone, it’s charging. Android users have known this feeling for years, but a lot of iPhone users are going to love it now.

(Image courtesy James Bareham, The Verge)

Daring Fireball’s John Gruber discusses camera improvements:

Photography is one area where I don’t yet have a handle on how much better these iPhones are than their predecessors. The lighting effects in Portrait mode, though, are interesting. This feature is still in “beta”, but man, I’ve already taken some shots of my wife and son that I just love. There have also been a few where the edges of their hair have confused the hell out of the iPhone’s depth sensing. But the original Portrait mode last year shipped in similar state, and got better quickly. When it works, though, it’s amazing. (And when it doesn’t work well, you can always revert to the plain no-lighting-effect Portrait mode shot, with nothing lost.)

Engadget’s Chris Velazco had the following to say about the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus’ screens:

Stop me if you've heard this before: The iPhone 8 uses a 4.7-inch IPS LCD screen running at 1,334 x 750, while the 8 Plus has a 5.5-inch, 1080p display. Those are exactly the same sizes and resolutions we've seen in earlier models, and the similarities don't stop there. Both of these new screens adhere to the wide, DCI-P3 color gamut like the iPhone 7 did, and neither of the iPhone 8 displays are brighter or higher-contrast than last year's versions. In other words, the screens used in the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are mostly the same as the ones they were meant to replace.

Apple transplanted one of the iPad Pro's most helpful features into its new phones. It's called True Tone, and it uses an ambient light sensor to interpret your current lighting conditions and tweak the display's color temperatures to keep whites and colors looking balanced no matter where you are. You're encouraged to turn the feature on during initial setup, and I'm with Apple on this one: You should have it on. Sure, objectively speaking, the feature makes the display less accurate -- as I write this, I'm in our dim studio and the iPhone 8 has adjusted its display to be a little warmer than normal. The flip side is that the colors I see now seem a little more accurate in this context, and everything is generally easier on the eyes too.

(Photo courtesy Chris Velazco, Engadget)

CNET’s Scott Stein sums it up as follows:

The 8 Plus is exactly what you'd expect: a better 7 Plus. Basically, the 7S Plus. Despite all the under-the-hood improvements on paper, this is more like driving a familiar car with a new engine. Nothing is stopping you from buying the 8 Plus right now. And if you do that, you're getting an excellent iPhone. One of the best ever.

"One more thing" from USA Today’s Edward C. Baig:

The reason to hesitate now is that Apple also unveiled the iPhone X last week, and frankly, that is going to be the model that many of you will want. It is the one I am eyeing, too.

Only the X won’t be available until Nov. 3, and heck, given much speculated on supply shortages it may be weeks beyond that date before you can get it.

The should-I-buy dilemma is further complicated by pricing, with the 8 and 8 Plus sandwiched between the new X and cheaper choices. The iPhone 8 costs $699 or $849, depending on whether you select 64GB or 256GB of storage; the 8 Plus costs $799 or $949. The X, meanwhile, is at $999, or—yikes--$1149 for the max capacity. That’s a reasonably wide gulf, even if monthly installment pricing and trade-ins might ease the financial burden for some.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/71040-experts-weigh-new-iphone-8-8-plus-ahead.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

They just released one new product, the moronically priced iPhone X. The iPhone 8's are nothing more than iPhone 7S's, which had it not been their anniversary year, they probably would've called them that. The iWatch 3 is also nothing more than a small, iterative update and the ability for one model to function as a phone without a smartphone being available is just going to cost users a heap more cash in carrier data plans. Yup, the "mystical & innovative" status that was once bestowed upon them is nothing but a faded memory these days. They did reach the pinnacle at one time but where's there to go after that? Nowhere but the steep slippery slope downwards. They'll still be around for a good few more years but their glory days are behind them now.

 

[Kenrick]

There is no point to the iphone 8/plus if you have the 7/plus. The iphone X should be the logical next upgrade. Given the new hardware and the excellent iOS, the iphone X would be the phone that other manufacturers would try to beat again. Ive seen a lot of gimmicks in phones but only Apple do it perfectly.

 

[Polycount]

They just released one new product, the moronically priced iPhone X. The iPhone 8's are nothing more than iPhone 7S's, which had it not been their anniversary year, they probably would've called them that. The iWatch 3 is also nothing more than a small, iterative update and the ability for one model to function as a phone without a smartphone being available is just going to cost users a heap more cash in carrier data plans. Yup, the "mystical & innovative" status that was once bestowed upon them is nothing but a faded memory these days. They did reach the pinnacle at one time but where's there to go after that? Nowhere but the steep slippery slope downwards. They'll still be around for a good few more years but their glory days are behind them now.

Agreed. I've got nothing against Apple (though I'm a happy Android user now) fans, but I just don't understand the X's pricing at all. Looks like more of the same to me.

 

[Rippleman]

To those that wonder why apple called them the "8 and 10": Samsung is on their "8". For today, humans perceive the higher number to be the latest. So, 8 is to match the s8... while 10 is supposed to be a jump over and be ahead. yes, silly, but that is how humans are.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Agreed. I've got nothing against Apple (though I'm a happy Android user now) fans, but I just don't understand the X's pricing at all. Looks like more of the same to me.

They make decent, if overpriced products and they may as well ride the crest of the wave while it's there because it can't last forever and they're acutely aware of it. Remember how M$ used to rule the roost with an iron fist and run roughshod over everyone? That's no more. Apple will remain relevant for many years to come but the halcyon days of their earlier iPhones, iPods & iPads that wooed the masses are in the past now.

 

[Faelan]

There is no point to the iphone 8/plus if you have the 7/plus. The iphone X should be the logical next upgrade. Given the new hardware and the excellent iOS, the iphone X would be the phone that other manufacturers would try to beat again. Ive seen a lot of gimmicks in phones but only Apple do it perfectly.

Be warned that if you’re thinking of jumping from a plus sized iPhone to the X, you’re not getting the plus sized experienced. The X is not a clear logical step up from the 7 plus. Only the 8 plus is. On paper, the X has a larger display than the plus, but in reality, it’s for the most part a slightly upscaled regular sized 4.7” device. When you fire up an app on the X, it’ll see it as a 4.7” device. Most of that extra screen real estate is useless. So don’t think you’re getting more content on the X screen because it’s technically bigger than the plus. The plus is still king in terms of being able to show the most content on the screen. So going from a 7+ to the X is actually a step down in some ways. Whether that’s worth it is up to the individual. Just felt like throwing it out there because I’ve seen people say they’re going for the X because the spec sheet says the screen is even bigger than the plus. They’re going to get disappointed.

 

[Nobina]

To those that wonder why apple called them the "8 and 10": Samsung is on their "8". For today, humans perceive the higher number to be the latest. So, 8 is to match the s8... while 10 is supposed to be a jump over and be ahead. yes, silly, but that is how humans are.

I feel sorry for those humans.