Marking the 10-year anniversary since Steve Jobs debuted the original Apple iPhone, Apple unveiled 2017’s latest product on Sept. 12 at a Cupertino, Calif., event. Following a dramatic keynote where he introduced the highly anticipated iPhone 8, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the iPhone X—which the Apple website describes as “the biggest leap forward since the original iPhone.”
The iPhone X is ready for release on Nov. 3, with the flagship model starting at a record breaking high-price: $999 for the lowest storage configuration at 64GB. A thousand dollars for a smartphone is not cheap. To defend the steep price hike, Cook showed off many of the phone’s capabilities to assure potential customers that the product is worthy of such a cost.
The iPhone X boasts a 5.8-inch diagonal Organic Light-Emitting Diode screen—comparable to the iPhone 7's 4.7-inch plain LED screen—with a near bezel-less design. This function, however, was only possible by completely removing the bottom home button altogether.
The circular Touch ID sensor is an addition that has been a feature of the iPhones since the release of the 5S. Furthermore, the near-timeless home button was available on every iPhone sold for consumer use. While it is disheartening to see such a unique Apple trait go, Apple made this cut with a purpose in mind. Apple is completely aware it is changing the look and feel of the iPhone to transition to something better.
Face ID, instead, replaces the Touch ID system on this model. Cook heavily emphasized security over any other feature, which was the most sold concept at the keynote. Senior Vice President Phil Schiller stressed how Face ID is more secure than Touch ID, and is a feature here to stay.
“[Face ID] is the future of how we’ll unlock our smartphones and protect our sensitive information,” Schiller said.
The idea is that the iPhone X cannot be fooled by someone other than you when seeking access into your phone.
All the bells and whistles mentioned earlier are only small contributions that highlight why this iPhone is worth the money. While the bezel-less display and Face ID all seem like neat features, they alone do not pull me to shell out a thousand dollars for a cellular device.
I will be buying the iPhone X for primarily one reason: good faith. I am a firm believer that Apple will use the iPhone X to signal to consumers that it makes higher quality products than its competitors.
All previously mentioned features are not particularly new in the cell phone arena. Apple does not need to innovate: it just needs to take already existing features and implement them better. This isn't a bad business model at all, and the consumers won't mind, either.
While Apple may not be ahead of its time any longer, it can still make superior products and finish what its competitors started.
Current Apple CEO Tim Cook gave the keynote speech at the 2012 World Wide Developers Conference. Cook recently presented the new iPhone X in California, which has new features and will be sold for $999. (Mike Deerkoski/Creative Commons)