IPhone XS review of characteristics, price, start of sales, photo

September 2018 was rich in the harvest of American 'apples'. In addition to smart watches, tablets and accessories, three smartphones were presented at once: iPhone XR, XS and XS max. This year's recognized flagship iPhone XS caused a stir. The gadget received a Bionic A12 processor with artificial intelligence, 4 GB of RAM and a camera that has no equal in mobile devices.

Specifications

The new iPhone XS got the name 'iPhone Ten Es' in Russia 'Ten Es'. Previous 'leaks' of information told the flagship of the name iPhone 11, X 1, 2 or Pro, but two weeks before the presentation, the intrigue was revealed. Thus, the model became the successor of the tenth series of smartphones, and the S prefix speaks of the inclusion of new technologies in the gadget.

Housing

Two weeks have passed since testing iPhone XS in real conditions, and conclusions about the quality of the case are premature. Crash tests have shown that the glass is not strong enough to withstand the 1.5 meter height of a hard surface. If dropped without a protective cover, the cover shatters to smithereens. In terms of the appearance of scratches, there are no complaints, as well as scratches.

Discontent was caused by steel frames, which seemed to some users unstable for daily use. For some users iPhone X, the outer layer was erased indecently.

Colors

The XS comes in 3 colors: Silver, Gray and Gold. It's not 6 shades like the iPhone XR, but more than iPhone X (there were two). If the tones of white are traditional for the entire series of iPhones, 'gold' is radically new. The color is no longer pinkish, but rather warm yellow. Looks rich and rich. To create a glossy feeling, each layer is applied with a special PVD coating method.

Material

In inheritance from the iPhone X, the younger model received a similar design. The back panel is made of glass, made according to a special technology (the strongest for today, according to the engineers), a stainless steel frame is used for the frame.

Dimensions and weight

Due to the lack of frames, the display seems elongated, although it is identical in dimensions to the iPhone X: 143.6 × 70.9 × 7.7 mm. Saving in size is understandable: to do less – buyers will not accept, more – and why then iPhone XS max.

Water resistance level

An increased rate of dust and moisture protection is provided – IP68. In iPhone X and 'eights' IP67. The smartphone is 100% protected from dust, will not break in rain, water, coffee or sugary drinks. Withstands water penetration up to 2 meters. But such experiments are not recommended on their own, a guarantee for a 'flooded' phone is not provided.

Super Retina display

The screen occupies 81.4% of the front panel. When turned off, the display gives the impression of a solid glass with a nice monobrow, which the company plans to abandon soon.

OLED – 5.8-inch display with the highest brightness and resolution causes only pleasant emotions. iPhone XS supports Apple True Tone. The program analyzes temperature and lighting and adjusts the white balance depending on the task.

Memory

iPhone XS comes in three flavors: 64, 128 and 512 GB. The company left the 64 GB volume to make the smartphone more or less affordable.

A12 Bionic processor

Today the rivals to the 12th generation processor from Apple have no equal. The A12 Bionic is based on a 7-nanometer process technology, there are no such technologies in any smartphone, and in the next year there will be no serious competitors. According to analysts' forecasts, such processors will appear in Android gadgets no earlier than 2019.

A12 Bionic consists of 6 cores, 4 for efficiency, 2 for performance. When a 'heavy' program is launched, all kernels are activated, which ensures fast loading and work without 'freezing'. But when performing everyday tasks, only 4 efficient cores are turned on, which save energy without losing performance. Thus, the iPhone XS saves 50% battery compared to its predecessor.

For the first time Apple created a smartphone with 4 GB internal memory. Apps that haven't worked on iPhones before are coming soon.

Neural Engine, processor machine learning

Another feature of the 'heart' iPhone XS is the Neural Engine module. Its main quality is instant information processing. Thanks to this technology, A12 Bionic learns itself: it analyzes the user's actions and selects the best ways to solve the problem. For example, you entered 'Photos' and even before entering a request for a specific file, the OS will return the results that are more suitable in this situation.

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The conclusions of the synthetic tests are as follows: A12 Bionic is 70% faster and more powerful than the previous processor! How does this affect smartphone performance:

• opening and launching applications is accelerated;
• performs simultaneously from 2 to 5 complex tasks without 'freezing';
• instantly encodes video, processes photos.

The difference is visible to the naked eye, while it is difficult to imagine that a smartphone could be faster.

iOS 12

The OS contains the latest achievements of programmers Apple. The platform completely changes the idea of ​​the capabilities of a smartphone. List of innovations and advantages iOS 12:

1. New platform for working with ARKit 2.0 augmented reality applications. Support for multiplayer mode has been introduced, several people will be able to simultaneously see the same objects. The potential is emerging for creating games and applications.
2. 'Quick Commands' for Siri. You can configure voice commands to open the desired files or web pages. Siri has become much smarter, predicts the actions of the owner, offers to perform actions even before the commands are voiced.
3. Update of the 'Do not disturb' mode, the appearance of a new one – 'Go to sleep'.
4. Notifications are now grouped by subject and importance to the owner.

As with the previous model, the iPhone XS has time tracking available on the phone. The user will see the total hours of work or how much they spent on each application.

Battery

iPhone The XS is equipped with a 2658mAh Li-ion battery. The developers Apple called it a 'long-liver' smartphone. The company in the new models does not focus on a large battery, but on optimizing the processes of the smartphone. The A12 Bionic determines the status of tasks: the important ones consume the maximum energy, while working with minor ones, the economy mode is activated.

The description for the model claims the operating time of up to 20 hours of talk time, which is 30 minutes more than that of iPhone X. It takes 2 hours to recharge with an ordinary device, quick charging is possible – 30 minutes.

2 SIM cards and support for Gigabit Class LTE

The iPhone is now available with two SIM cards. True, in the versions for the USA and Europe, instead of one card, there will be an electronic esim. In Russia, there is no such technology and is not planned, so models intended for China with physical slots will enter the Russian market.

This year Apple has equipped flagship smartphones with support for high-speed LTE networks. Data transfer rates here are up to 1 Gb / s. But it all depends on the support of network operators of this standard. There is no such thing in our country yet.

3D Touch remained

The cheaper model iPhone XR received Haptic technology instead of the usual 3D Touch sensor used in the iPhone 4. In the flagship smartphone Apple I did not save money, so users will not notice any changes in terms of tactile sensations. But according to rumors, in the near future, the company plans to completely abandon 3D Touch.

Faster Face ID technology

All speed improvements are associated with a fundamentally new approach to information processing. Face ID itself hasn't gained anything new, but thanks to the Bionic A12 processor, as well as the revision of the security module, the face detection function has become faster.

Now it takes a split second to unlock. Secure Enclave instantly compares the face image with baseline readings and gives permission to launch the smartphone. As in iPhone X, the scanner creates a computerized version of a person's face by projection of 30 thousand points. The program detects changes in the wearer's appearance, recognizes a person even under a mustache, wig and in any light.

Compared to iPhone X, Face ID in iPhone XS is slightly faster, but the difference is almost imperceptible. Other indicators are also stable, the program recognizes a face several times a minute, in a dark room, standing, lying or sitting.

More surround stereo

Stereo speakers are 50% louder and richer. The developers especially tried to make the sound spacious and clear, without wheezing or any interference. Video with such speakers looks 2 times cooler.

Dual camera

It is located vertically, slightly protrudes from the body, the lens is covered with sapphire crystal for protection. But the quality of shooting and modes have expanded compared to the iPhone X.
iPhone XS received the following innovations:

• deeper pixels (1.4 microns versus 1.2 on the iPhone X);
• Support for Smart HDR mode, which brings out details in the light and dark areas of the photo;
• improved performance of the image processor in Bionic A12.

The changes have been made to the 'Portrait' mode. Added new function 'Depth'. With its help, editing the depth and sharpness of the picture is available after it is saved.

Front camera TrueDepth

The front camera with a resolution of 7 megapixels, as well as the main one, supports the 'Portrait' mode, which was created specifically for selfies. The Depth or Stage Light function allows you to take pictures like a professional camera.

Smart HDR

Wide dynamic range. This technology has been supported by smartphones Apple of the last 2 years. What the program gives: when shooting, it automatically takes three pictures with different exposures and combines them to obtain a clear and detailed photo.

To activate the mode, go to the 'Camera' and activate the function. When shooting, the camera saves two options: with and without effects, the user selects the photo he needs.