BY ANTONY MUTUNGA
Faster chip, going pro and introducing slofies, apple has done this and much more in their new iPhone 11 as they look to stay ahead of their competitors.
Their new flagship, introduced on September 10 at the Steve Jobs Theatre in Cupertino, California, U.S, not only brings something new for the usual apple users but it also gives android users a reason to switch to iOS.
It comes in three different options, the 6.1-inch iPhone 11, the 5.8-inch iPhone 11 Pro and 6.5-inch iPhone 11 Pro Max all with a fresh palette of colours, longer battery life and a new processor.
The American multinational technology company has introduced a new chip in the new phones, the A13 Bionic processor, expected to increase performance beyond what the Apple A12, which powers the iPhone XS, XR and XS Max could manage.
In fact, according to Sri Santhanam, Apple vice president of Engineering, the new A13 Bionic processor will include more transistors, increasing from 6.9 billion in the A12 to 8.5 billion. The processor will also have four high-efficiency cores and two high-performance cores. However, unlike in the A12 processor, the two high-performance cores are now 20% faster and consume 30% less battery while the four high-efficiency cores are 20% faster and consume 40% less power. Basically, this means that the new iPhones will be faster when compared to their previous flagship, the iPhone XR.
The new processor not only increases performance, it also increases the battery life of the new phones. Having promised its users to increase battery life, apple did not disappoint as they announced that the new processor will see the iPhone 11 have one more hour of battery than last year’s iPhone XR while the iPhone 11 pro has four more hours of battery life than last year’s iPhone XS and the iPhone 11 Pro Max has five more hours of battery life than last year’s iPhone XS Max.
To ensure the pro phones are truly for the professionals, Apple has given them a different touch compared to the entry-level iPhone. In fact, according to Tim Cook, Apple CEO, the pro phones are the most powerful and most advanced iPhones Apple have ever built, with a stunning design. For instance, while the iPhone 11 comes with a new anodised aluminium and glass chassis and in six different colours; purple, white, yellow, green, black and red, the pro phones come with a textured matte glass back and polished stainless-steel band in four colours; midnight green, space grey, silver and gold.
The new iPhones also differ when it comes to their screens as the entry-level model has an LCD, the pro’s come with an OLED. Additionally, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are rated IP68 for water resistance up to four meters for up to 30 minutes while the iPhone 11 is only water resistant up to two meters for up to 30 minutes. The biggest difference however, can be found in the rear cameras of the new phones.
iPhone 11 features an upgraded dual-camera setup that comprises 12MP wide and 12MP ultra-wide sensors. On the other hand, the pro’s boasts a triple-camera setup that includes 12MP wide, 12MP telephoto and 12MP ultra-wide sensors. The three 12-megapixel cameras work together for zooming from 0.5x to 2x. On the side of the front camera, the new phones all come with a 12MP TrueDepth camera that allows the user to capture wider-angle shots when rotated to landscape.
Apart from this improvement in the software of the camera, Apple has also introduced a slow-motion video mode for the front camera, which is capable of taking slow-motion video at 120 fps (frames per second). With the feature, Apple looks to popularize slow motion selfies or ‘slofies’ as the company has dubbed them.
In terms of storage, the iPhone 11 will have 4GB of RAM and internal storage of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB. On the other hand, the pro’s come with 6GB RAM and 64GB, 256GB, 512GB internal storage capacities.
The iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max will hit the market at initial cost of Sh73, 000 ($699), Sh104,000 ($999) and Sh114,000 ($1,099) respectively. Pre-orders will be available as of 1 September 13 while shipping is to start on September 20.
