Apple Special Event 2018 Highlights: Quick Facts on Watch Series 4, iPhone XS, Max, XR

After weeks of speculations, Apple finally pulled the wraps off the new line of Watch, iPhone X series at the iconic Steve Jobs Theater, Apple Park, Cupertino on 12 September.

Apple Watch Series 4:

Without further ado, let's begin with first product announced the new Watch Series 4. It comes with a serious upgrade in terms of advanced biometric sensors and design over the predecessor Watch Series 3 (review).

It comes with original curvy square case design, but with the slimmer body and 30-per cent increased display, Watch Series 4 looks gorgeous, while the new interface watchOS 5 provides more information with richer detail.

The company claims that the Apple Watch Series 4 with watchOS 5 brings advanced activity and communications features, along with revolutionary health capabilities, including a new accelerometer and gyroscope, which are able to detect hard falls, and an electrical heart rate sensor that can take an electrocardiogram (ECG)using the new ECG app, which has been granted a De Novo classification by the FDA. Apple plans to get similar regulatory approvals in other regions from respective government agencies.

Apple offers the Watch Series 4 in two sizes, 40mm and 44mm. The speaker is said to be 50 per cent louder, optimized for phone calls, Siri and Walkie-Talkie, and the microphone has been relocated, to reduce echo for better sound quality. The device includes the next-generation S4 chip with a custom 64-bit dual-core processor, delivering twice the speed while maintaining the same all-day battery life.

Apple iPhone XS series:

The new iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max come with same design language as the original iPhone X (review) but differ in screen sizes. They come with a good blend of high-grade steel and glass offer premium feel and also support wireless charging. They come with IP68 certifications, meaning they can survive underwater for two meters (around 6.57 feet) for close to 30 minutes.

The iPhone XS Max sports a massive 6.5-inch AMOLED screen, while the iPhone XS, the true successor of the iPhone X (2017) retains 5.8-inch AMOLED screen. Both come with Super Retina Display with a pixel density of 458 pixels per inch (ppi).

Underneath, they house a beast A12 Bionic, which is a 7nm class super processor which come with 7nm class 6-core Apple A12 Bionic CPU+ Neural Engine+ 4-core GPU, which can process 5 trillion operations per second. Rest assured, it is the most advanced and most powerful processor for a mobile in the industry. It will leave all flagship Android phones in the dust for sure.

Also, thanks to the A12 Bionic chipset, FaceID on both the new iPhone XS series models will work faster and there will be less False Rejection Rate(FRR).

Another big upgrade is the camera, they come with sophisticated dual 12MP Dual 12MP wide-angle (F1.8) and telephoto (F2.4) cameras with 2x optical zoom, 10x digital zoom, Quad-LED True Tone flash with Slow sync, Portrait mode with advanced Bokeh and depth control (F16-F1.4), Portrait Lighting with five effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono), Smart HDR and can capture 4K videos in 30fps(frames per second) and 60fps and also slow-motion videos in full HD at 240 fps.

On the front, it houses equally impressive 7MP FaceTime Camera with F2.2 aperture, Retina Flash, Smart HDR, Portrait mode with advanced Bokeh and Depth control and Portrait Lighting with five effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono).

One more thing...

Apple iPhone XR:

Besides the new iPhone XS series, Apple also unveiled in new iPhone XR. It looks similar to the iPhone X from the front but it's not the same when seen from the back. Also, it comes with 6.1-inch LCD screen dubbed as Liquid Retina Display. It comes with IP67 certification, meaning the device will survive underwater for up to one meter (around 3.2 feet) close to 30 minutes.

And on the back, it houses just a single 12MP camera, but if Apple is to be believed, it is more advanced than the iPhone 8 series and will take really good pictures.

Also like the iPhone XS, the XR camera too supports Portrait mode with advanced Bokeh and depth control (F16-F1.4) but lacks more options in terms of Portrait lighting feature. And on the front, it has the same hardware as the iPhone XS series.

Under-the-hood, it houses 7nm class Apple A12 Bionic chipset and offers one and half day battery life.

Apple iPhone XS, XS Max, XR, Watch Series 4 price and availability details:

Apple iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max price starts at $999 and $1099, respectively. Both will be up for pre-order on 14 September and go on sale on 21 September. In India, the prices starts at Rs 99,900 and Rs 1,09,900, respectively. And will be available from 28 September onward. It will be available in space, silver and gold finish colour options.

On the other hand, iPhone XR price starts at $749 in the US and select markets. It will be up for pre-order from 19 October and go on sale on 26 October. It will be available in white, black, blue, yellow, coral and (PRODUCT) RED edition. It will come in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB storages. In India, the price starts at Rs 76,900.

Apple Watch Series 4 will be up for pre-order from 14 September with prices starting at $399 for GPS model and the Cellular model will set you back by $499. It is slated to go on sale in select markets on 21 September. The company has not disclosed the availability details for the Indian market. Stay tuned.

Key specifications of Apple iPhone XS Max, iPhone XS and iPhone XR:

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