iPhone XR, iPhone XS And iPhone XS max Launched In India. Prices Revealed.
Dual SIM finally arrives on the iPhone.
Apple, yesterday, announced the 2018 upgrade to their lineup of personal devices — iPhone and Apple Watch. The upgrades are meant to be both incremental (speed bumps, new processors, etc.) as well as transformative (the ability to perform an ECG on the Apple Watch). Let’s take a look at what’s new.
Apple Watch
There were a lot of sceptics of the Apple Watch when it first launched in 2015. Many believed that the price was too high, that the screen size was not big enough, that it just didn’t have the features to compete with either fitness trackers like the Fitbit or smart watches like the Moto 360. With each version upgrade, it has bolted on new features to better track your heart rate, to make calls, improved its UI, etc. to get to the point that it is now ubiquitous. It seems to be following a similar trajectory as the iPhone.
This year, a number of changes have been announced. The screen has gotten bigger and the bezels have been trimmed down. This means that in the external form factor, you get to see more information on the screen. There’s a new ECG monitor that will alert you if it detects any anomaly so you can get it checked by doctors before it’s too late. Additionally, it can even detect when you fall, in which case, it will send you an alert asking if you want to call emergency services. Minor changes include incorporating haptic feedback in the crown to make scrolling more precise, improved battery so as to maintain the same life as before even with the addition of more battery intensive features.
With the Apple Watch, it’s clear that Apple is not really positioning this to compete with other watches. It’s carving a new market all together — one which blends fitness and wellness with getting things done through the day. With Apple Watch Series 4, this strategy is being taken to the next level.
Pricing and launch dates for the Indian market have not yet been announced.
iPhone X
Last year, iPhone X started the trend of smartphones being made with notches. Every major smartphone brand, barring Samsung, launched a phone inspired by the looks of the iPhone X. This year, the trendsetter is back with not one, not two, but three iterations on the iPhone X for various pocket (and budget) sizes. The company recently became the first to hit a market cap of 1 trillion dollars. Apple will be hoping that the iPhone X family propels them to their next trillion.
The three devices this year are the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and the iPhone XR. The first two are the flagship devices while the XR has been designed keeping the budget conscious in mind. Keeping with the tradition of the S series of iPhones, there are no external changes in the XS. The XS Max also keeps the design the same, albeit with a much larger screen and battery. On the inside, both devices match each other spec for spec — from the cameras to the storage options to the processor. Your decision to buy one of these will solely depend on the size you are most comfortable with.
The iPhone XR, on the other hand has a number of differences. It has an LCD panel versus an LED one on the other two. It has a single camera, though that functions in a similar manner as the Google Pixels in taking photos in portrait mode. In fact, this device looks like it has the front of an iPhone X fused with the back of the iPhone 8. The XR is considerably cheaper, too. Where the XS and XS Max start at Rs. 99,900 and Rs. 109,900 respectively for 64GB, the XR starts at Rs. 76,900 in the same storage options.
Dual SIM
After years of sticking to a single SIM in their phones, Apple has finally added dual SIM capability across the three new devices, however with a twist. The new devices will have one physical sim card slot and one eSIM. The eSIM is essentially a virtual SIM slot and Jio and Airtel have both announced that they will support this at launch on the new iPhones. This move will be cheered in a market such as India where it is common for people to prefer phones with two sim cards — giving users the option to switch when signals are poor, or while performing different activities.
The iPhones go on sale on September 28 in India. Which one are you most interested in? Let us know.
