iPhone X, Priced in India at Rs. 89,000, Has a 5.8-Inch 'Super Retina' Bezel-Less Display, Face ID: Release Date, Specifications, and More

Technology

iPhone X was at the centre of the Apple launch event tonight as the company launched three iPhones at the same event for the first time. The new iPhone X is placed above the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, and has several features that the other two models do not. The highlight, of course, is the bezel-less design, along with the Face ID facial recognition system. In fact, the Touch ID fingerprint sensor - a staple of the iPhones since the iPhone 5s - had to make way for the bezel-less design, thus Face ID is the only means of identity authentication. While iPhone 8 models will be available from September 22, those looking forward to the iPhone X release will have to wait till November.

iPhone X price in India, release date

iPhone X price in India is Rs. 89,000 for the variant with 64GB storage, and the 256GB model's price is Rs. 1,02,000. This makes the higher-end iPhone X the most expensive mainstream smartphone in the country, and the first such model to be priced above Rs. 1,00,000. Coming to the iPhone X release date in India, prospective buyers will have to wait till November 3; pre-orders in the country will start on October 27. This makes the iPhone X launch date in India part of the first phase rollout, which is interesting as the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus India release is part of the second phase

iPhoneX Price in India Release Date 2 133117 023159 2565 iPhone X Price in India Release Date

If we talk about the iPhone X price in the US, Apple's home market, the 64GB and 256GB variants are priced at $999 (roughly Rs. 64,000) and $1,149 (roughly Rs. 73,600).

iPhone X specifications, features

The first thing you notice on the iPhone X is a near bezel-less display on the front side. It is larger than ever at 5.8-inch. There is a notch on the top, but the company has pushed the screen resolution to 1125x2436 pixels, more than any previous generation iPhone models, and calls it the Super Retina HD Display.

The iPhone X is the future of smartphones, the executives said. Apple is doing away with the Touch ID, the fingerprint scanner embedded with Home Button that it introduced with iPhone 5s model. The iPhone X hosts a range of sensors including flood illuminator, infrared camera, front camera, and dot projector to allow customers to unlock the iPhone X by just looking at it - a system called Face ID.

Face ID is faster and more secure than the Touch ID, thanks to specialised hardware and algorithm driving that hardware. "The facial recognition grows with time. It learns your face and adapts to your face" Phil Schiller, Apple VP of Worldwide Marketing said. "It works in day, it works in night." While Touch ID could be tricked one in 50,000 times, Apple said, Face ID sees one error in one million times, citing its own internal data. Face ID will work with third-party apps as well, Schiller said.

iPhoneX Face ID 2 133617 023618 4923 iPhone X features Specifications Face ID

The depth-gauging front camera can be used for another purpose, Schiller said. You can create animated emojis - called Animoji - that resemble your facial expressions. Users can make use of this feature in Messages. The company is also betting on augmented reality as a selling point in the iPhone X model.

The iPhone X features a duo of 12-megapixel rear cameras, that are larger (f/1.8 and f/2.4 apertures), and faster. It has deeper pixels, quad-LED True Tone flash, Schiller said. For the 7-megapixel selfie camera, the company says it is bringing Portrait mode feature, which it introduced with the iPhone 7 Plus last year.

In some ways, the company is testing the loyalty of its customers with the Rs. 89,000 price tag, more than it has ever asked before for its phone. Analysts however noted that the company might still be able to sell enough of these models. In a survey earlier this month by Creative Strategies and SurveyMonkey, 21 percent consumers said they would buy the costlier iPhone regardless of the price, though 33 percent existing iPhone users said they would not upgrade if it was too expensive.

"The most expensive iPhone model, an iPhone 7 Plus with 256GB storage, already costs USD 962 unlocked and SIM free. If Apple adds a new model which costs a few dollars more it will have no impact on consumers who are looking to spend $150. They are completely different market segments," Ian Fogg, an analyst with IHS Markit told Gadgets 360.

"If the new flagship iPhone is genuinely different to other smartphones it will do two things for the mainstream India smartphone market: It will set a design theme which we will see other smartphone makers copy over the next few years, and eventually these design cues will be available in sub $150 smartphone models," he said. The sub-Rs. 10,000 smartphone market is the most popular in India, according to data from several marketing research firms.

"And, it will act as a halo product to encourage consumers to buy Apple’s entry level smartphone models, currently the iPhone SE and iPhone 6, so consumers who are attracted to Apple’s brand pick the models they can afford," Fogg added. "There will of course be some consumers in every country who are able to afford the most expensive iPhone whatever the cost. But Apple aims to create mainstream quality products, not a super niche luxury, not commodity products. A product which may fall into the luxury niche in India, could be a mainstream quality smartphone in Japan, USA, or parts of Western Europe."

Source: ndtv