X marks the spot for iPhone fanatics. The iPhone X is the latest release from Apple, and celebrates the tenth anniversary of the iPhone. Pronounced iPhone 10, the X has been described by Apple supremo Tim Cook as the "biggest leap forward since the original iPhone". That's a big call, even if it is from a man who makes big calls upon the release of every new Apple product. So, what makes the iPhone X such a revolutionary addition to Apple's stable of legendary phones?
Screen and nothing but screen
The X makes a dramatic first impression thanks to its screen. Basically, the entire front panel is taken up by the screen: a 5.8-inch Super Retina display. This OLED display is a first for the iPhone, with a resolution of 2,436 x 1,125 pixels. Apple boasts of stunning colours, true blacks, high brightness and an unparalleled contrast ratio of 1,000,000 to 1. All those numbers add up to make incredibly impressive viewing.
Bye, Bye Touch. Hello Face ID
If the screen makes a real splash at first sight, it's the Face ID that is the biggest talking point of the iPhone X so far. Gone is the Touch ID feature - it's been replaced by a facial recognition feature which Apple says is so secure you can use it with Apple Pay. That sort of bold statement reflects their confidence in the security of their ground-breaking ID feature.
A Photo-Friendly Phone
All sorts of photographic features are embedded in the iPhone X, which features dual 12-megapixel cameras, and plenty to please the "selfie" generation. This includes Portrait Mode selfies, drawing, even more, attention to the foreground and subtly reducing the sharpness of the background. Another portrait-related feature is Portrait Lighting, promising studio-quality lighting effects. And, pleasingly for those of you who like to get up close when taking shots, optical zoom, plus digital zoom at up to 10x for photos and up to 6x for video. All in all, the TrueDepth camera, and its associated sensors, must be special to enable Face ID. The upshot of this is better photos using some of the "most sophisticated technology we've ever developed".
Bionic, fast and smart
The much-heralded A11 Bionic is being described as the most powerful and smartest chip to ever be put in a smartphone. With a neural engine capacity of up to 600 billion operations per second, you can expect big things from the iPhone 8.
A "Rethought" OS
The OS - iOS11 - is said by Apple to be "rethought", which promises a new and improved overall experience. A key selling point is augmented reality, with iOS being the largest platform for AR. Latest augmented reality technology is an exciting prospect when you're thinking of games and apps, and enjoying an even better life-like digital experience with them.
Ongoing Power
Wireless charging makes that side of things easy, and iPhone X promises to make it even easier. As for the amount of battery power you can expect? The answer is a positive one: on average, about two hours more than the expectancy delivered by the
iPhone 7 - a decent leap ahead.