Apple iPhone 8 & iPhone X launch event: What to expect

Apple is set to launch its highly anticipated tenth anniversary smartphone in less than 24 hours. The so-called iPhone X will be joined by the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus alongside the company’s new hardware line-up, which includes the fifth generation Apple TV and the new Apple Watch 3. Here’s the rundown about the hyped up launch event and the new handsets.

The iPhone X is going to be unveiled at the Steve Jobs Theatre at the Mac maker’s new Apple Park “Spaceship” campus, located in its centre of operations in Cupertino, California. The annual conference launches on Tuesday, September 12 at 10:00 a.m. PST and should be available to watch or stream online. That’s Wednesday, September 13 at 3:00 a.m. in Australia.

The iOS 11 GM build leak provided plenty of info about the upcoming tenth anniversary iPhone and its iPhone 8 brothers. It’s now confirmed that the iPhone X isn’t going to have a Touch ID. Insider Jeffrey Grossman has noted (see tweet below) that Apple Pay users would need to confirm payments by double clicking the sleep/wake button at the side following a Face ID authentication.

Developer Steve Troughton Smith revealed on Monday that the new iPhones will each house a six-core A11 processor that has four low-power "Mistral" cores and two high-power "Monsoon" cores. It’s not the same Fusion chip like on last year’s flagship and all six cores are independently addressable. The iPhone 8 is packing 2 GB of RAM while both the 8 Plus and the X model are each coming with 3 GB.

The iPhone X is reportedly furnishing a 12 MP primary camera and a 7 MP selfie shooter. Users will be able to record 4K videos at 60 FPS and Full HD slow-mo videos at 240 FPS with the main camera. Unfortunately, the front-facing snapper isn’t expected to do the same.

The high-end 5.8-inch iPhone X, which will be the first Apple handset to sport an OLED display. The 4.7-inch iPhone 8 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus will equip the same LCD screens as the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. All three new iPhones are expected to pack the same A11 chip and feature wireless charging capabilities, but only the OLED variant will have a near bezel-less look.

Rounding out the tenth anniversary Apple mobile device’s features are the glass back panel, stainless steel border and USB3 Lightning fast cable charging support. The handset is expected to carry a starting price of not less than US$1,000 (AU$1,250). The model names of the iPhone X, the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus were confirmed ahead of the launch thanks to the leaked iOS 11 firmware.