Apple announces the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus

Apple just unveiled the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus at its press event. It looks a lot like the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, but with a glass back. The iPhone 8 still has a single camera while the 8 Plus has a double camera.

It comes in silver, space grey and a new gold finish that looks like a mix between gold and rose gold. These phones are sealed to be water and dust resistant. Apple also announced the iPhone X at the same conference, a new, premium model with a screen that fills the front of the device. Read more in our separate post.

There’s a new retina HD display. It has true tone technology like the most recent iPad Pro. It adapts to ambient light. Speakers are 25 percent louder and have deeper bass. Inside, it has an A11 Bionic chip. It is a 64-bit chip with two high performance cores that are 25 percent faster than the A10 in the iPhone 7, and 4 high-efficiency cores that are 70 percent faster than the ones in the A10 (the A10 only had two high-efficiency cores too). The GPU part is 30 percent faster.

he camera sensor and processor are band new. It works better in low light condition, it has some noise reduction technology. The two sensors on the back of the iPhone 8 Plus are f1.8 and f2.8 apertures — it is brighter than the iPhone 7 Plus. There are new color filters too, which should make colors pop more according to SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller.

Apple then explained portait mode. It detects depth so that it can intelligently change the lighting effect on your face independently of the background. When it comes to video, it supports faster frame rates. You can expect 4K videos at 60 frames per second. For slo-mo videos, your 1080 videos will have 240 frames per second. So it should be even slower motion.

These cameras and the A11 Bionic chip have been calibrated for augmented reality. Schiller demoed the MLB At Bat app. Now, you can point your phone at the field and it’ll tell you who’s playing right now in front of you. Directive Games showed a demo of a tabletop game that takes advantage of ARKit. You can move your phone around to see the game unfolding on the table in front of you. It looks quite convincing, but it’s unclear if game developers are going to take advantage of ARKit or if it’s going to end up being a gimmick like the Wiimote.

The iPhone 8, just like many Android phones out there, now supports wireless charging. It should work with many third-party wireless chargers as Apple is using a common standard.

The iPhone 8 is going to start at $699 for 64GB. The iPhone 8 Plus is going to cost $799 and more. Pre-orders start on September 15th. The iPhone 8 will be released on September 22nd.

iPhone 7 launch date CONFIRMED - Apple to unveil its new smartphone next week

Apple appears to have confirmed the launch date of its long-awaited iPhone 7

Apple has sent out media invitations for an event next week, where it is widely expected to unveil its next flagship handset - the iPhone 7 .

The event is taking place at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on Wednesday, September 7, at 10am local time, (6pm BST).

Apple often likes to include a hidden message in its invitations, but this one gives very little away.

It carries the tagline "See you on the 7th" - which may allude to the name "iPhone 7", as well as the date.

It also features a number of translucent clouded dots outlining the top portion of Apple's logo, which may relate to the rumor that Apple is planning to introduce new clouded handsets.

In photography, this out-of-focus effect is called booked. It is usually hard to create with a phone camera, suggesting that the iPhone 7 could feature an upgraded camera lens.

However, these dots could also be water droplets, which would be relevant if Apple was planning to launch a waterproof iPhone.

Rumours have been swirling about the iPhone 7 for many months, with numerous rumours and leaked photos adding fuel to the frenzy.

The most persistent (and controversial) rumour is that Apple is going to get rid of the headphone socket.

This means you will either have to buy a pair of headphones that use a Lightning cable, get an adapter, or use Bluetooth headphones.

There are a lot of rumours that the iPhone 7 will get a camera upgrade - but this may only apply to the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus, not the 4.7-inch iPhone 7.

The rumour is that it the larger iPhone will get a dual-lens camera that will be able to snap SLR-quality photos and 3D images.

There has been a lot of talk about Apple removing the Home button, but the latest rumours suggest this will be a key feature of next year's model.

Instead, Apple could add some pressure-sensitivity to the Home button, meaning it will perform different functions depending on how hard you press it.

The latest leaked pictures suggest that Apple is going to get rid of the plastic lines that run across the back of the iPhone.

These lines currently allow radio signals to pass through the metal casing and reach the antennas. However, it looks like Apple may be planning to redesign the case to get around this restriction.