Apple Park, Cupertino CA. Apple has pulled the wraps off its new iPhone 11 series at the Steve Jobs theatre at Apple Park.
The refreshed range has three new iPhones starting with a lower-priced 6.1-inch iPhone 11 (good), the 5.8-inch iPhone 11 Pro (better) and iPhone 6.5-inch 11 Pro Max (best).
The ‘standard’ model has fewer inclusions than the ‘Pros’. The key differences are a dual instead of a triple-lens camera system and an IPS screen versus premium OLED displays. In
Notable omissions from this year’s line-up include 5G mobile network compatibility and reverse wireless charging. These features are found on Samsung, LG, Huawei and Oppo’s flagship phones.
Now Apple has resolved issues with 5G chipmaker Qualcomm we can expect 5G with next year’s refresh of the iPhone 11 ‘S’ and then the iPhone 12-series.
And, reverse-wireless charging is where the phone can be used as a wireless charger to power accessories like earbuds or even other phones.
I only mention these omissions as Apple would need
And as Apple fans were expecting, yes, Tim Cook did say the iPhone 11 was the best Apple had ever produced!
First some iPhone Specs
iPhone | 11 | Pro | Pro Max Same = Pro |
Display |
6.1”, 1792×828, 326ppi, IPS 1,400:1 625 nits max brightness P3 gamut Dolby Vison/HDR10 |
5.8”, 2436×1125, 458ppi, OLED 2M:1 contrast 800nits Same |
6.5” 2688×1242 Same |
Processor |
A13 Bionic Third gen Neural engine | Same | Same |
RAM/Storage | 64/128/256 | 64/256/512 | Same |
Rear Camera |
Ultrawide: 12MP, f/2.4 Wide: 12MP, f/1.8 OIS 2X Optical 5X Digital zoom Night mode Portrait mode HDR 4K@260fps |
Ultrawide: 12MP, ƒ/2.4 Wide: 12MP, ƒ/1.8 aperture Telephoto: 12MPm, ƒ/2.0 Dual OIS 2x optical 10x digital zoom Same | Same |
Selfie |
12MP, f/2.2
Screen fill light HDR Portrait mode Bokeh 4K@60fps EIS at 30fps Animoji and Memoji | Same | Same |
Coms |
Wi-Fi 6 AX MIMO BT 5.0 NFC GPS | Same | Same |
Security | Face ID | Same | Same |
Calls | FaceTime video and audio VoLTE Wi-Fi calling 1 x Nano/1 x eSIM FDD-LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 66) TD-LTE (Bands 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46, 48) | Same | Same |
Battery | mAh not disclosed Lighting connector Up to 50% charge in 30 minutes with optional 18W adapter | Same but includes 18W charger | Same |
Build |
Alloy frame Glass back IP68 (2M x 30min) |
SS frame Textured matt glass back 4M x 30min |
Same |
Size | 150.9×75.7x 8.3mm x194g | 144×71.4×8.1mm x 188g | 158×77.8×8.1,226g |
Colours |
Purple Yellow Lime Green Black White Red |
Midnight Green Silver Space Grey Gold | Same |
Price | $1199/1279/1499 | $1749/1999/2349 | $1899/2149/2499 |
iPhone 11
Similar to last year’s iPhone XR, the iPhone 11 has a 6.1 inch LED display. While not as high performance as the Pro/Max OLED screen, it’s still very bright and looks great.
It also gets the same A13 processor, so in many ways, it’s just as capable as the Pro models. The new dual-camera system includes the same ultra-wide and wide lens units as the Pro and has improved low light performance.
The front True Depth 12MP camera can capture at 4K 60fps and can record
An upcoming Deep Fusion image processing feature (US fall) uses machine learning to take a photo in low and medium light. It takes eight images before you press the button, and one when you press the button. Then it examines 24 million pixels to optimise your photo. It is computational photography mad science.
iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max
The Pro’s OLED Super Retina XDR display looks incredible. There is still the largish notch.
Apart from size. weight and battery capacity the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max are identical. These represent Apple’s most advanced technology
The new 12MP triple-lens camera system matches the look and feel of some of the earlier design leaks, which drew some criticism due to not being up to Apple’s usual aesthetics. But hey, for a better camera who cares?
The A13 Bionic processor is claimed to be 100% more powerful than the A12 found on last year’s models. There’s also a 200% increase in graphics (GPU) performance. The 3rd generation neural engine can perform over 1 trillion operations per second. They fit 85 billion transistors into the 7nm chip.
The A13 Bionic chip and the OLED screen are optimised to save power. This means that the iPhone 11 Pro/max will last four/five hours longer than the iPhone XS/Max.
Another benefit of the Pro/Max is they have the 18W fast-charger in the box to fill 50% in 30 minutes. This isn’t as fast as some competitors, who can do 70% or more in 30 minutes, but at least customers don’t need to shell out extra for the fast charger.
GadgetGuy’s take: More iPhone 11 – refinement and evolution
The new iPhone 11 series are a step up from last year’s models. The new camera systems offer more creative options and the low light performance is welcome.
Otherwise, there are some new colour options, but the phone’s general look and feel has not changed much. The new camera system isn’t as unattractive as some of the early renders might have suggested.
For the price, and considering the competition it would have been nice to have 5G capability along with USB-C instead of the proprietary lighting cable.
Again – hey that is Apple and there will be a lot of happy Apple Aficionados loving all the upgraded camera features.
Valens Quinn travelled to the Apple iPhone 11 launch event in Cupertino, California as a guest of Apple Australia.