iPhone 8 and 8 Plus is now official with dual glass design and A11 Bionic chip

Apple has officially announced two new iPhones: iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus on it's 1st ever media event at Steve Jobs Theater. While the star of Apple's event is the 10 year anniversary iPhone X, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus bring enough improvements to carry the lineup on their own. The Apple iPhone 8 and 8 Plus bring a new design with glass on the front and back, the latest Apple A11 Bionic six-core chipset, new cameras, louder stereo speakers and new durable glass. Silver, space gray, and a “beautiful new gold finish” are available color options. Matte black, jet black, and rose gold are no longer available.

As usual Apple is bringing a new chipset with its new iPhone lineup. The new processor is called A11 Bionic. The chip features two high-powered cores that are 25% faster than the corresponding ones in the A10 Fusion. The other four cores are power efficient and are 70% faster than the two low-power cores in the A10 Fusion. The GPU is the first Apple-made one and is comprised of 3 cores, promising 30% faster performance compared to the GPU inside the A10 Fusion.

Underneath the glass the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch display are new units but of the same resolution as the ones on the iPhone 7/7 Plus. Both cameras are also improved with a new 12MP camera sensor and less noise. iPhone 8 Plus has two new sensors and a new feature called Portrait Lighting. The new camera system shoots 4K 60 fps and 1080p 240 fps for the first time. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are also calibrated for augmented reality with its new camera, chip, and sensors.

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus both feature Bluetooth 5.0 and wireless charging. Both iPhones support the Qi open wireless standard to work with popular wireless chargers. Apple Stores will carry wireless chargers from Mophie and Belkin. The two phones also support fast charging - you can get from flat to 50% in 30 minutes.

The Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus go on pre-order on September 15 and on sale on September 22. The iPhone 8 costs $699 for the 64GB model or $849 for 256GB. The iPhone 8 Plus costs $799 for the 64GB model or $949 for 256GB.

Here is the full press release from Apple:

SEPTEMBER 12, 2017

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus: A new generation of iPhone

Featuring New Glass and Aluminum Design, Retina HD Displays, A11 Bionic Chip, New Single and Dual Cameras with Support for Portrait Lighting, Wireless Charging and Optimized for Augmented Reality

Cupertino, California — Apple today announced a new generation of iPhone: iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. The new iPhone features a new glass and aluminum design in three beautiful colors made out of the most durable glass ever in a smartphone, Retina HD displays and A11 Bionic chip, and is designed for the ultimate augmented reality experience. The world’s most popular camera gets even better with single and dual cameras featuring Portrait Lighting on iPhone 8 Plus, and wireless charging brings a powerful new capability to iPhone. Both devices will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, September 15 in more than 25 countries and territories, and in stores beginning Friday, September 22.

“iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are a new generation of iPhone that improve on everything we love about iPhone,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have new glass and aluminum designs, new Retina HD displays and A11 Bionic — the smartest chip ever in a smartphone. Packed with more advanced cameras with Portrait mode and Portrait Lighting, and the highest quality video capture in a smartphone, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus enable the freedom of wireless charging, all with AR optimization like no phone ever before.”

Stunning New Glass and Aluminum Design

New space gray, silver and gold finishes on iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are made using a seven-layer color process for precise hue and opacity.
iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus introduce a beautiful glass back design made with the most durable glass ever in a smartphone in three new finishes: space gray, silver and gold. The glass finish is made using a seven-layer color process for precise hue and opacity, delivering a rich depth of color with a color-matched aerospace-grade aluminum bezel, and is water and dust resistant.1

New Retina HD displays

The new 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch Retina HD displays with the addition of True Tone adjust the white balance of the display to match the surrounding light for a more natural, paper-like viewing experience. The vibrant wide color gamut Retina HD display offers the best color accuracy in the industry. Redesigned stereo speakers are up to 25 percent louder and deliver deeper bass, enabling richer-sounding music, videos and speakerphone calls.

Introducing A11 Bionic

A11 Bionic, the most powerful and smartest chip ever in a smartphone, features a six-core CPU design with two performance cores that are 25 percent faster and four efficiency cores that are 70 percent faster than the A10 Fusion, offering industry-leading performance and energy efficiency. A new, second-generation performance controller can harness all six cores simultaneously, delivering up to 70 percent greater performance for multi-threaded workloads, giving customers more power while providing the same great battery life. A11 Bionic also integrates an Apple-designed GPU with a three-core design that delivers up to 30 percent faster graphics performance than the previous generation. All this power enables incredible new machine learning, AR apps and immersive 3D games.

Designed for AR

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are engineered for the ultimate augmented reality experience.
The cameras on iPhone 8 Plus are custom tuned for the ultimate AR experience. Each camera is individually calibrated, with new gyroscopes and accelerometers for accurate motion tracking. AR benefits from A11 Bionic, which handles world tracking, scene recognition and incredible graphics at 60fps, while the image signal processor does real-time lighting estimation. With ARKit, iOS developers are taking advantage of the world’s largest AR platform, creating games and apps offering fantastically immersive and fluid experiences that go far beyond the screen.

All-New Camera for Better Photos and Video

The world’s most popular camera gets even better, featuring an improved 12-megapixel camera with a larger and faster sensor, a new color filter and deeper pixels. A new Apple-designed image signal processor delivers advanced pixel processing, wide color capture, faster autofocus in low light and better HDR photos, while a new quad LED True Tone Flash with Slow Sync results in more uniformly lit backgrounds and foregrounds. All this adds up to outstanding photos with vibrant, realistic colors and more detail.

The new camera also delivers the highest quality video capture ever in a smartphone with better video stabilization, 4K video up to 60fps and 1080p slo-mo up to 240fps. The Apple-designed video encoder provides real-time image and motion analysis for optimal quality video. With iOS 11, both iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus support HEIF and HEVC for up to two times compression and storage for twice the photos and videos.

iPhone 8 Plus features dual 12-megapixel cameras and introduces Portrait mode with Portrait Lighting, bringing dramatic studio lighting effects to iPhone, allowing customers to capture stunning portraits with a shallow depth-of-field effect in five different lighting styles.

Portrait Lighting is based on extensive research into the art and science of portraiture and core photographic lighting principles. It uses the dual cameras and the Apple-designed image signal processor to recognize the scene, create a depth map and separate the subject from the background. Machine learning is then used to create facial landmarks and add lighting over contours of the face, all happening in real time, giving customers even more power to express themselves through photography.2

Designed for a Wireless Future

The glass back design enables a world-class wireless charging solution. Wireless charging works with the established Qi ecosystem, including two new wireless charging mats from Belkin and mophie, available from apple.com and Apple Stores.

Apple gave a sneak peek of AirPower, an Apple-designed wireless charging accessory coming in 2018, which offers a generous active charging area that will allow iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus or iPhone X customers to simultaneously charge up to three devices, including Apple Watch Series 3 and a new optional wireless charging case for AirPods.

Featuring iOS 11, the World’s Most Advanced Mobile Operating System

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus come with iOS 11, featuring incredible advancements to Portrait mode, while new effects make Live Photos more fun and expressive.

iOS 11 also brings augmented reality to hundreds of millions of iOS devices with a new platform for developers to build apps that let users place virtual content on top of real-world scenes. Siri debuts new male and female voices and can translate US English phrases into Chinese, French, German, Italian or Spanish.

Pricing and Availability

• iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will be available in space gray, silver and an all-new gold finish in increased 64GB and 256GB capacity models starting at $699 (US) from apple.com and Apple Stores and is also available through Apple Authorized Resellers and select carriers (prices may vary).
• Through Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program, customers in the US can get iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, with the protection of AppleCare+, choose their carrier (no multiyear service contract required) and have the opportunity to upgrade to a new iPhone every year. The iPhone Upgrade Program is available for iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus at apple.com and Apple Stores in the US with monthly payments starting at $34.50 for iPhone 8 and $39.50 for iPhone 8 Plus.3
• Customers will be able to order iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus beginning Friday, September 15, with availability beginning Friday, September 22, in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UAE, the UK, the US and US Virgin Islands.
• iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will be available in Andorra, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, India, Isle of Man, Israel, Jersey, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia and Slovenia beginning Friday, September 29.
• Apple-designed accessories including leather and silicone cases in a range of colors will be available starting at $35 (US). Lightning Docks in color-matching metallic finishes will also be available for $49 (US).
• Every customer who buys iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus from Apple will be offered free Personal Setup in-store or online to help them customize their iPhone by setting up email, showing them new apps from the App Store and more.4
• Anyone who wants to start with the basics or go further with iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus or iOS 11 can sign up for free Today at Apple sessions at apple.com/today.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

1 iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are splash, water and dust resistant, and were tested under controlled laboratory conditions with a rating of IP67 under IEC standard 60529. Splash, water and dust resistance are not permanent conditions, and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear. Do not attempt to charge a wet iPhone; refer to the user guide for cleaning and drying instructions. Liquid damage not covered under warranty.
2 Portrait Lighting launches in beta.
3 Based on a 24-month installment loan; full terms and conditions apply.
4 In most countries.