Apple iPhone 8

The Apple iPhone 8 is already the 10th generation of iPhones and altho it may look a bit skinny compared to the simultaneously announced iPhone X, it is the iPhone for every-day users. Moreover, both phones share many of the same features and even components. What that all means in practise we will try to explain as well as possible.

Familiar appearance, this time made of glass

The iPhone 8 is very similar to the iPhone 7 of the previous year. This time, however, it has a glass back that Apple believes is the strongest glass ever in a smartphone. Those two sheets of glass are held together by a solid edge of aluminium in a matching colour. It holds them together so tightly that the iPhone 8 is just as water-resistant as before. It also keeps dust out. An advantage of the glass back is that the iPhone is now suitable for wireless charging. This is not really fast, especially compared to a cable. Moreover, the iPhone needs to be reasonably alined on the charger for it to work. Still, in practise it is very handy, especially on the bedside table. No more fiddling with a cable that breaks easily and is expensive to replace.

Professional lighting

You may call the Apple iPhone 8 a modest update to last year's iPhone 7. New is that the camera of this smaller 4.7 inch model is now equipped with optical image stabilisation. The year before that was only spent on the much more expensive Plus model. The advantage of optical image stabilisation is that it delivers sharper photos, even in the dark. Also new but in the form of a function is Portrait Exposure. This is an extension of the portrait mode that Apple introduced with the iPhone 7. With Portrait Exposure (also known as Portrait Lighting) you shoot photos that roll right out of a photo studio. With a full black background for example.

Main Apple iPhone 8 specifications

• Compact 4.7-inch Retina HD display with True Tone
• Improved 12 megapixel camera with optical image stabilisation
• Unprecedented powerful Apple A11 Bionic processor
• Speedy mobile web browsing on the go via 4G
• 7 megapixel FaceTime HD camera for selfies and video calls
• Available in 64 and 256GB storage
• Water and dust resistant (IP67 according to IEC standard 60529)

Honourable mention for A11 Bionic

Also noteworthy is the built-in A11 Bionic processor. Apple makes it itself, and of course it's the fastest and most powerful processor Apple has ever made. More importantly, it has become smarter. For example, the processor helps you take better photos by using brutal processing power. It also enables a variety of Augmented Reality applications. Point your camera at the world and add virtual objects or figures. Expect an avalanche of AR apps and games that are very realistic soon. They're all small improvements that may not be so exciting by themselves. Upgrading an iPhone 7 to an iPhone 8 doesn't sound very logical, but if you come from an older iPhone, the iPhone 8 is not only a good choice, it's also the logical choice.