After the surprise entry of the iPhone X (pronounced iPhone Ten) last year, Apple’s naming scheme had gone for a toss, since it entirely skipped the iPhone 7s, iPhone 8s, iPhone 9, and iPhone 9s names. The company’s usual
tick-tock naming cycle was nowhere to be seen. So, consumers and enthusiasts were interested to know what would Apple end up naming the next set of iPhones that were to be released in 2018. Apple named the successor of the iPhone X as the iPhone Xs. The bigger screen variant of the phone is simply called iPhone Xs Max. Why isn’t it called the iPhone Xs Plus you might ask. Well, over the past few years, upgrading to a larger screen sized iPhone meant additional features such as an optically stabilised camera or a dual-camera setup, apart from a larger screen and a larger battery. This year, both iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max have exactly the same features and specifications, except the larger screen and a bigger battery. Hence, the ‘Plus’ nomenclature has been replaced with ‘Max’. The spiritual upgrade of the
iPhone SE (
Review) has been launched in the form of the iPhone Xr. This way, all the new iPhones follow the X nomenclature and save Apple from going back to the numerals 9 or 8. The iPhone Xs features a 5.8-inch Super Retina screen, while the iPhone Xs Max uses a 6.5-inch Super Retina Screen. The iPhone Xs has the largest screen ever used in an iPhone, ever. To properly support the largest screen, the iPhone Xs Max also gets the largest ever battery used in an iPhone, at 3174mAh. The iPhone Xs, on the other hand, features a 2658mAh battery. Both iPhones are compatible with USB-C PD fast charging and Qi wireless charging. All the other specifications of the iPhone Xs and the iPhone Xs Max remain the same. Both iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max come pre-installed with iOS 12. Apple’s A12 Bionic processing chipset is used in all new iPhones released this year, so no matter which iPhone you end up buying, you can be rest assured about speed and UI fluidity. The A12 Bionic features a hexa-core 64-bit CPU and a quad-core Apple GPU. Both iPhone Xs get 4GB of LP-DDR4X RAM and a choice of either 64GB, 256GB, or 512GB storage capacity variants. If you install a lot of apps and games, or if you capture a lot of 4K 60fps videos, 64GB might not be enough and there’s no storage expansion on iPhones. So, you should buy at least the 256GB storage variant. Coming back to the displays, both iPhone Xs variants can playback HDR10 and Dolby Vision HDR videos, and feature wider colour gamut, TrueTone Display, and 3D Touch features. Apple has also introduced 120Hz touch-sensing this year, which should not be mistaken for 120Hz display refresh rate (used in the
Razer Phone). Last year’s iPhones had one of the best stereo speakers on smartphones, and this year’s new iPhones are claimed to have even louder and fuller sounding stereo speakers. There’s still no 3.5mm headphone jack though, and Apple will not even bundle a Lightning to 3.5mm audio jack adapter with this year’s iPhones. So, it’s better to switch to wireless earphones, especially which feature the AAC codec. At the rear, both iPhones have identical camera setups: dual-12MP with OIS, quad-LED flash, and 4K video recording at 60fps. While the specs look similar to last year’s iPhones, the company has used a larger sensor and more advanced algorithms for better still images and videos. While the 7MP front-facing camera units (ƒ/2.2 aperture, fixed focus) on all new iPhones remain similar to last year’s iPhones, Apple has improved the video recording frame rate to 60fps. The iPhone Xs and the iPhone Xs Max can now capture 1080p videos at as high as 60fps. Since there is a TrueDepth camera system at the front of all new iPhones, it also helps in capturing Animojis and Memojis. In the connectivity department, the iPhone Xs and the iPhone Xs Max feature GPS, 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac with MU-MIMO, AirPlay 2.0, Bluetooth 5.0, and Lighting Ports. The LTE radios have been upgraded for faster download and upload speeds over compatible cellular networks.