Apple keynote 2018: all the news from the iPhone announcement

How’s that iPhone in your pocket feeling? Old? Outdated? Just fine, but you want to trade it in anyway? September is usually the time when people start thinking about trading in their current iPhone and upgrading to a new device. Aside from financing or signing up through a carrier, the cheapest way to go about getting a good deal on a new iPhone is to trade in your old one.

Trading in your iPhone is faster, easier, and safer than reselling. To get the best valuation for your iPhone, you’ll want to follow these steps. Scratches, dents, and other imperfections may reduce what you get back, but, perfect or not, you’re practically guaranteed to get at least something for your trade.

The long wait for the more affordable iPhone XR is nearly over. Following its mid-September announcement alongside the flagship iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, preorders for the $749 XR begin on Friday, October 19th, and the phone will be available the following Friday, October 26th.

Preordering is necessary if you want to receive your new iPhone on launch day. Those who opt out of preordering may be lucky enough to find a new model at a local carrier retail store shortly after launch, though it’s more likely that you may be without one for as long as a few days or weeks.

With the launch of tvOS 12, support for the Dolby Atmos surround sound format is finally coming to the Apple TV 4K. Apple’s streaming solution launched last year with support for the Dolby Vision HDR video format right out of the box, but in the ever-messy array of streaming devices, set-top devices, and competing formats, it couldn’t claim bragging rights as a solution for customers looking for a way to experience their favorite movies and TV shows with the absolute cutting edge in home presentation. As of today, that’s changed.

While Atmos support is a welcome addition for Apple TV, it can still be hard for some customers to understand why they should care about any given surround sound option in the first place. In the case of Dolby Atmos, which first debuted in movie theaters in 2012, that’s even more true than usual. The format only started entering the home-entertainment space four years ago, and consumers may not have had the chance to experience it for themselves. But the number of ways Atmos can be experienced at home is growing rapidly, and the addition of the format to the Apple TV will increase that momentum, at the exact same time the entertainment industry is turning more toward Atmos as its finishing format of choice. Why does it matter? Let’s dig in.

The most exciting announcement from Apple’s annual iPhone event on Tuesday was not a set of three new smartphones, but a smartwatch. The Apple Watch Series 4 — with its rounded corners, larger display, and built-in EKG scanner — became undoubtedly the most sought-after gadget in the aftermath of Apple’s fall hardware refresh. While many people have bemoaned having to choose between the iPhone XS and XR, or are simply forgoing a mobile upgrade entirely, the Series 4 stood out for how simple of a purchase it is for those who’ve been sitting on the sidelines of the wearable market.

For those like me who’ve had an older Apple Watch Series 0 or 1, it’s a no-brainer, and it was what I was most excited about when I decided to stay up on Thursday night to claim a midnight order. The disparity is best illustrated by the fact that, after less than half a day of orders, every single tier of iPhone XS available right now has a September 28th to October 5th shipping window. Nearly every model of the Apple Watch Series 4, on the other hand, won’t ship until October 12th to October 19th.

This year, Apple reached the end of its iPhone X (read: ten) names. Next year remains a mystery. Apple has gone through all the numbers from one through ten, skipping two and nine for its own reasons. Now, for better or worse, next year, it’ll likely need to figure out a new naming scheme.

Apple hastened its way toward a dead end last year when it decided to switch to Roman numerals rather than continuing with numbers as it had done in the past. Phone branding is something that Apple often plans months in advance, so it has likely already thought about its next move.

On Wednesday, Apple announced its new iPhones, curiously giving the cheaper and more colorful iPhone XR a ship date of over a month after the more luxe iPhone XS and XS Max models become available next Friday. Why didn’t Apple release all three phones at once?

In fact, Apple’s release pattern is exactly the opposite of what it did last year when it chose to release its more affordable phones, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, just 10 days after the Apple event in September, while the iPhone X wasn’t available until November. This was due to OLED supply issues, and iPhone X sales initially suffered for it.

The new iPhone XS and XS Max will have dual SIM capabilities, with a special edition for the Chinese market that contains a SIM tray which holds two physical cards. For users outside China, however, the new iPhone devices will support eSIM. While there are many benefits to eSIM, the nascent technology hasn’t seen wide adoption yet.

Only ten countries offer eSIM support right now: Austria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, India, Spain, the UK, and the US. Sprint and smaller carriers in the US don’t offer eSIM support as of yet, meaning that customers will need to switch over to T-Mobile, Verizon, or AT&T in order to enjoy that feature. Sprint told PCMag today that it will support eSIM eventually but didn’t give a specific timeframe.

The iPhone XS and XS Max are among the most expensive phones you can buy in the US. Where last year’s iPhone X jumpstarted the trend of $1,000 flagships, this year introduced the $1,100 device with a larger screen. And as was the case last year, those who live in other regions around the globe will be paying much more for Apple’s latest devices — as much as $1,389 in Italy for the cheapest model. Similarly, those in Italy buying the iPhone XS Max with 512GB of storage will be paying $1,971.

The now-normalized trend of wallet gouging outside of the US saw iPhone X’s starting price of $1,000 inflated north of $1,300 in places like Russia and Poland, among others.

For the second year in a row, Apple has announced three new iPhones at once. And with confusing names like iPhone XR, it’s only getting more difficult to figure out which one might be the best device for you. And the jargon doesn’t end there. A12 Bionic? Liquid Retina Display? Neural Engine? How is anyone supposed to make sense of it all?

Settling on the right iPhone isn’t as daunting as you might think. Ignore the confusing names and just focus on the one or two things that are most important to you, whether that’s a giant screen, a dependable camera, or colors that match your own style.

Apple unveiled its annual updated iPhones yesterday, showing off three models that weren’t groundbreaking as far as developments in hardware or design considering they’re standard S upgrades, but they do shake up Apple’s lineup in significant ways. For one, the iPhone X is gone entirely, as are older iPhone models with headphone jacks. In its place is the new iPhone XS, a slightly superior version of the bezel-less smartphone Apple first released for $999 last year. And now, there’s an even larger version — the iPhone XS Max — that has an eye-popping 6.5-inch display, which is Apple’s largest ever.

Complicating the conversation is the third phone that was announced yesterday: the iPhone XR. That device comes in six bright colors, including a Project RED version and a canary yellow one. It also has all of the same internal components as its pricier variants and a bezel-less display. But from a price standpoint, it’s designed to replace last year’s iPhone 8. The two big trade-offs you make are in the display quality — the XR has an LCD display instead of an OLED one — and in the camera, which is a single-lens system instead of the iPhone XS’s dual-lens system that was carried over from last year’s model.

Apple’s iPhone launch event yesterday was so full of good news that the company apparently couldn’t find the time to disclose a couple of less happy developments in its product range. First, the three-year-old iPhone 6S and two-year-old iPhone SE models are being discontinued, which is significant because they were the last remaining iPhones with headphone jacks that Apple was selling. Second, the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter that Apple used to ship in the box with its iPhones is now gone.

If you’re buying an iPhone XS, XR, 8, or 7, from today onward, you will no longer have a direct way to connect your wired headphones to your shiny new device. The dongle that previously came free in the box is now only available as an additional $9 purchase. That means you can spend as much as $1,449 (on an iPhone XS Max with 512GB of storage) and then still need to hand Apple more money to keep compatibility with your existing headphones. And this is just one of an increasing number of upsells that risk upsetting the goodwill of the company’s most loyal customers.

As ever, the camera system is one of the most important features in the new iPhones. Apple’s SVP of product marketing Phil Schiller played the same role he always does at each iPhone announcement, breaking down the camera technology in depth and explaining the improvements. This year he went as far as to pronounce that the iPhone XS will hail “a new era of photography.”

But the days where Apple held a major lead over every Android manufacturer are long gone. Google’s innovative approach to computational photography with the Pixel line means they’re now the phones to beat in terms of pure image quality, while competitors like Samsung’s Galaxy S9 Plus and Huawei’s P20 Pro have strong claims to supremacy in areas like low-light performance. The iPhone 8 and X have good cameras, to be sure, but it’s hard to make the case that they’re the best. Can the iPhone XS catch up?

Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 4 today, which it touted as being thinner than previous models. This is only partially true: the upcoming fourth-generation Apple Watch is the thinnest since the Series 2, which had an 11.4mm case compared to this year’s 10.7mm version.

However, if you compare the Series 4 to the first-generation Apple Watch, you’ll find that the newer model is 0.2mm thicker; the original came in at just 10.5mm when it launched in 2015. (Of course, the Series 2 added GPS and water resistance, so it’s hard to fault Apple for adding 0.9mm of thickness to the overall case.)

Apple unveiled the newest generation of its flagship iPhones today, the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. The models share a lot of the features that their discontinued predecessor first introduced to the iPhone line, like Face ID and Portrait Mode, but now they’ve been fine-tuned and improved. One of the biggest upgrades is the switch to Apple’s new A12 Bionic processor, which is said to be 15 percent faster than the A11. It’s also notable that these features are now available in the form of a 6.5-inch XS Max, which is the largest iPhone ever.

One of the highlighted demonstrations onstage today was the ability to manually adjust the depth of field after taking photos in Portrait Mode. Despite Apple’s claims that “this has not been possible with any kind of camera,” it’s actually a feature that’s been available on Android phones like Huawei and Nokia for a few years. Not to mention, the refocusing technology was first pioneered by the now-defunct light-field camera company Lytro in 2012.

Apple’s big iPhone event has come and gone, with the company highlighting its new iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR models along with the updated Apple Watch Series 4. But one thing was conspicuously missing — Apple’s AirPower wireless charger, which was announced at last year’s iPhone event, and still has yet to come out.

Today marks the one year anniversary of Apple’s AirPower announcement, which was shown off alongside the iPhone X and Apple Watch Series 3. At the time, Apple promised that the AirPower charging pad would be out sometime in 2018, but in the full year since that original announcement, we still haven’t heard official updates from either its March iPad event or at WWDC.

A year after Apple Music launched to a lukewarm reception, the company overhauled the streaming service’s design. Since then, it has made smaller tweaks year after year, continuously improving the layout and functionality of the service. That will continue in iOS 12. Now with over 50 million songs in its catalog, Apple Music will gain some new features that will make it much easier to quickly find the music you want.

The biggest feature coming to Apple Music is called lyric search, which will allow you to find a song using two or more words. (Searching for “mom’s spaghetti” will surface “Lose Yourself” by Eminem, for example.) Lyric search has been pretty exceptional in the few weeks I’ve used it, surfacing both popular songs and obscure tracks from up-and-coming artists in equal measure.

Apple included a spare dongle in the boxes of the iPhone X, 8, 8 Plus, 7, and 7 Plus phones, but it isn’t so generous this year when it comes to including a 3.5mm audio dongle in the box.

The 3.5mm dongle is no longer a free accessory and the new iPhones won’t ship with Apple’s own fast Lightning to 3.5mm audio jack adapter. This includes the iPhone XS, XS Max, XR, and the iPhone 8, which used to include the free dongle.

Less than one year since it was released, Apple has discontinued the iPhone X with the introduction of its three new iPhones today. With the iPhone XS starting at a price of $999, and the addition of the cheaper $749 iPhone XR announced today, the iPhone X has become redundant. The iPhone SE and 6s have been removed from Apple’s website as well, marking the end of iPhones with headphone jacks.

Despite rumors of low sales since its launch, Apple earnings showed that the iPhone X actually sold quite well. CEO Tim Cook said in February, “iPhone X surpassed our expectations and has been our top-selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November.” Still, with the new iPhone XS, XS Max, and iPhone XR, it makes sense for Apple to remove the iPhone X from the lineup. Though the iPhone X, SE, and 6s have all been removed from the US market, it doesn’t rule out the sale of these older devices in developing markets like India.

Apple didn’t leave its HomePod smart speaker out of today’s big iPhone event, with CEO Tim Cook sneaking in a few new features for the product at the tail end of the keynote presentation. In an upcoming update, Apple’s home speaker will let you search for songs via Siri by asking about specific snippets of lyrics. You’ll also be able to make and take phone calls from the device, as well as ping your iPhone in the event you’ve misplaced it somewhere in your home, similar to the ping feature on the Apple Watch.

Most importantly, however, you’ll soon be able to set multiple timers on the HomePod. Multiple timers is one of the best features for any modern smart speaker, letting you keep it in the kitchen and use it as a way to play music and stay atop an ongoing recipe as you cook. It’s one of the most used Alexa features on Amazon’s Echo line of speakers, and it’s been a big missing feature for the HomePod up until now. We don’t have a concrete date for when these features are arriving, but it’s safe to say they’ll likely be ready with the rollout of iOS 12 next week on September 17th.

The new iPhone XS and XS Max have prices starting at $999 and $1,099 and start shipping out at the end of this month. The iPhone XR starts at $749 and begins shipping out in October.

The iPhone XS is the “most advanced phone we’ve ever created,” according to Tim Cook. It has a 5.8-inch OLED display with a 2436 x 1125 resolution. Meanwhile, the iPhone XS Max has a 6.5-inch OLED display with a 2688 x 1242 resolution. The iPhone XR, which you can basically think of as this year’s lower-end offering, has a 6.1-inch LCD display with a 1792 x 828 resolution.

Apple will release tvOS 12 on September 17th, the company announced today at its fall event. Back at WWDC, Apple announced it was bringing Dolby Atmos support to the Apple TV, as well as a new zero sign-on feature, which is an evolution of single sign-on that has been present on the platform since 2016.

While single sign-on required users to input their credentials for their TV provider, zero sign-on only requires you to be connected to your provider’s Wi-Fi network in your home (if they support it) and you’ll automatically be logged into apps that require cable logins. Currently the only provider supporting the option is Charter Spectrum, but Apple says more providers will support it in the future.

We now know when Apple is releasing macOS Mojave, named after a well-contoured desert: September 24th.

Mojave has a dark mode, more options for organizing your files, and brings more iOS apps over to desktop. It was first announced in June and a public beta became available at the end of June. The dark mode turns the brightly lit dock, taskbar, and chrome into a darker gray for browsing in the evening or just lowering the brightness for sensitive eyes. Meanwhile, the Mac App Store is getting a revamp, making new apps more prominent on the front page, like they are on the iOS store. Microsoft’s Office 365 is coming and so is Adobe’s Lightroom CC, as are the iOS apps Apple News, Voice Memos, Home, and Stocks.

Apple just announced the release date for its upcoming iOS 12 update: September 17th. But you don’t have to wait until then; you can install the finished version of iOS 12 starting today and gain access to improved notifications, Memoji, Screen Time, Siri Shortcuts, and other new features that are included in the update. Remember that iOS 12 is supposed to improve performance and responsiveness on iPhones both old and new.

The golden master build of iOS 12 — very likely the same version that will be widely released next week — is rolling out today to participants in Apple’s beta testing program. So if you want to start using the new update today, all you need to do is join the beta.

Apple has officially announced the iPhone XR, a new model that features a notched 6.1-inch LCD display and Apple’s Face ID system, similar to last year’s iPhone X. The new iPhone XR is a pretty significant upgrade for Apple, making the iPhone X’s design and features standard across the company’s latest line of phones. Apple is calling the 6.1-inch screen a “Liquid Retina” display, which offers a 1792 x 828 resolution at 326 PPI, featuring Apple’s True Tone technology.

That said, while the XR may look like a larger iPhone XS, there are a few compromises — the frame is aluminum, not stainless steel. There’s IP67 water and dust protection, instead of the improved IP68 rating on the iPhone XS, and the screen is LCD, not OLED. There’s also no 3D Touch — instead Apple is offering a new Haptic touch system, that offers similar feedback to the buttonless MacBook Pro trackpad.

Apple’s new camera system in the iPhone XS and XS Max has just been detailed at the company’s grand launch event, and the big highlight has nothing to do with hardware specs. The big improvement this year is all about computational photography. Sound familiar? That’s exactly the stuff Google has relied on to build its world-beating Google Pixel camera, and Apple’s solution follows a very similar path.

A new Smart HDR mode in the freshly announced iPhones does two Pixel-like things. One is that it shoots a constant four-frame buffer when the camera app is open, meaning that the moment you press the shutter is the exact moment the photo is taken, there’s literally zero lag. The other new feature is the smart combination and splicing of multiple frames of the same shot, exposed at different values. Apple then says it takes the best parts of each frame to produce the best possible imagery. Google’s approach is to take a whole bunch of underexposed photos and combine them — so Apple isn’t doing the exact same thing, but it’s a very similar approach.