Apple has just announced the eagerly awaited iPhone at the Apple Special Event early this morning, and the headliner here is the new iPhone range: the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The iPhone will be available for pre-order on the 13th of September in select countries. Whilst we await that, here are 11 things to know about Apple’s latest iPhones.
1. It’s coming to Malaysia a lot earlier this year
In some good news for Malaysians, the newest iPhones will be available to order on the 27th of September, which puts the Malaysian market in the 2nd wave of releases for this year. For comparison, the iPhone XS only arrived on Malaysian shores a full month after the first wave, which seems to indicate that Apple now sees Malaysia as a key market.
2. More affordable than last year’s iPhones
The iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max have also been released with lower prices than the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max’s prices in 2018. Prices for the iPhone 11 start at RM3,399, while the iPhone 11 Pro starts at RM4,899, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max has a base price of RM5,299.
This is lower in comparison to the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max’s pricing at release last year, which started at RM3,599, RM4,999, and RM5,399 respectively.
Here’s the full list of official Malaysian pricing:
iPhone 11
64GB – RM3,399
128GB – RM3,599
256GB – RM4,099iPhone 11 Pro
64GB – RM4,899
256GB – RM5,599
512GB – RM6,499iPhone 11 Pro Max
64GB – RM5,299
256GB – RM5,999
512GB – RM6,899
3. A triple-camera setup on the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max
Finally. The iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max will come with a triple-camera setup at the rear, with a 12MP f/1.8 wide camera as a primary sensor, a 12MP telephoto camera that now comes with a faster f/2.0 aperture (along with 2X optical zoom), and a much-needed 12MP f/2.4 ultra-wide-angle lens that offers a 120-degree field of view.
During the keynote, the ultra-wide-angle mode was referred to as “2x optical zoom out” as it provides 4x more scene.The main and telephoto cameras come equipped with optical image stabilisation (OIS), while the LED flash has been improved with Brighter True Tone flash with slow sync.
Apple has taken an extra step to calibrate the white balance and exposure of all 3 rear cameras, which is a nice touch. They’ve calibrated each camera to match the white balance and then further calibrated them for module-to-module alignment. Generally speaking, most smartphones with multi-camera setups tend to have different colour profiles with the outputs from different lenses.
4. New Ultra Wide camera for the iPhone 11
The iPhone 11, which is essentially the replacement for the “entry-level” iPhone XR, now features a dual-camera setup at the rear. This means that the most affordable iPhone 11 now features an ultra wide-angle lens at the rear—along with a wide-angle primary sensor.
Apple says that this new setup will capture 4x more scene in a shot, which will be suitable for architecture and landscape shots (which should be familiar to those of you that have already used ultra-wide angle lenses on your cameras/smartphones).
5. Night Mode, to help with low-light shots
Apple has finally introduced Night Mode with the latest iPhones, thanks to the Wide sensor on the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max. The new sensor’s 100 percent Focus Pixels, along with advanced software, means that the new Night Mode will bring substantial improvements to photos taken in low-light environments, resulting in brighter images with less noise.
Apple’s cameras have been highly-lauded (by smartphone standards) for some time now, and it’s certainly a feature that has been awaited for a long time now. On the same topic of camera modes, there’s also a new “QuickTake” feature that lets you hold the shutter button to take a video while in photo mode, à la Instagram/Snapchat.
6. Super Retina XDR display with some pretty serious specs
Apple has introduced new displays on the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max versions, and it’s actually quite a mouthful: Super Retina XDR. Numbers-wise, the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max will feature an OLED display that boasts a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 458 pixels-per-inch, and 1200 nits peak brightness. They both also come with support for Dolby Vision and Atmos, which should add to users’ cinematic experience.
This should translate to an even more vibrant display for the iPhone 11 Pro’s 5.8-inch display, as well as the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s 6.5-inch display. As for the iPhone 11, it will come with a 6.1-inch “Liquid Retina” display that comes with wide colour supports as well as True Tone—as seen in the XR—that will adjust the colour tone of the screen based on your environment.
7. Toughened back design, and IP68 across the range
On the iPhone 11, the back is milled and sculpted from a single piece of glass, which Apple says is the “toughest glass ever in a smartphone”. This should come as good news to those of you that prefer your smartphones naked—that is, without a thick case on it.
As for the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max, they come with a textured matte finish on their glass backs, along with a stainless steel band. Again, Apple says this is the toughest glass on a smartphone, while the durable nature of the iPhones across the range is supported by IP68 rating for water resistance up to 4 meters for up to 30 minutes. This, according to Apple, will also protect the phone from liquids such as coffee and soda.
Importantly, this is an upgrade from the iPhone XR’s IP67 rating, and will mean that “entry-level” iPhone 11 will have the same water-resistance as its more expensive siblings. However, the iPhone 11 is only rated for water resistance at up to 2 meters for up to 30 minutes.
8. A 20% faster SoC: The A13 Bionic
All 3 iPhones across the range will be powered by the new A13 Bionic chip—according to Apple, the new SoC is 20% faster than its predecessor, the A12 chip. The new chipset is designed for machine-learning purposes, with a faster neural engine that should help with real-time photo and video processing.
But backing all that up is the A13’s purported improved battery life. Apple promises up to 4 more hours of battery life for the iPhone 11 Pro (compared to the iPhone XS), and 5 more hours for the iPhone 11 Pro Max (compared to the iPhone XS Max). There isn’t a direct statement regarding the iPhone 11 other than “all-day great battery life”, but based on the iPhone XR’s battery life, expect it to be superb as well.
9. The selfie camera takes 4K videos in 60 fps
Apple’s TrueDepth camera, introduced with the iPhone X, now takes 4K videos in 60 fps. The 12MP front-facing camera has a wider field of view, and features Smart HDR for more natural-looking selfies. 4K video can also now be taken in 60 fps, with 120 fps available for slow-mo shots.
This is applicable for all of the iPhones in the range, so that’s certainly a plus.
10. New U1 chip means that AirDrop will see improvements in iOS 13
The U1 chip that Apple has introduced with all 3 iPhones announced went under the radar a little bit, but essentially it will bring directional/spatial awareness to AirDrop. Ultra Wideband technology, as it stands for, basically allows the latest iPhones to locate and communicate with other U1 devices more effectively.
This is how Apple explains it:
“Think GPS at the scale of your living room. So if you want to share a file with someone using AirDrop, just point your iPhone at theirs and they’ll be first on the list.”
11. Shipped with an 18W charger
Finally. The iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max will ship with 18W USB-C fast-chargers and USB-C to Lightning cables in the box. This was something that was also done with the latest iPad Pro, and will allow for the iPhone 11 Pro to be charged to 50% in 30 minutes. This marks the first time that an iPhone hasn’t come with a 5W charger, which is definitely pretty shocking in itself.
However, the iPhone 11 will still ship with a 5W charger in the box, just like the previous iPhones. Tough luck.
Just to recap, the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max will be available to order in Malaysia on the 27th of September 2019, with local pricing as follows:
iPhone 11
64GB – RM3,399
128GB – RM3,599
256GB – RM4,099iPhone 11 Pro
64GB – RM4,899
256GB – RM5,599
512GB – RM6,499iPhone 11 Pro Max
64GB – RM5,299
256GB – RM5,999
512GB – RM6,899
For more information, click here.
