Review iPhone XS and XS Max: large screens, great performance, big goals, big price

With last year's iPhone X, Apple introduced the most important redesign of the iPhone since the iPhone 4. All three phones announced by Apple this autumn, the iPhone XS, the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR are modeled on this model.

This means displays close from one edge to the other. It also means that they have the TrueDepth sensor network, which feeds Face ID, the facial recognition feature that replaces the Touch ID fingerprint authentication method used on iPhones since the last year. iPhone 5S in 2013. There is also no home button, which was already part of the iPhone. since the very first in 2007.

Today, we are looking at the iPhone XS and XS Max. This is perhaps the smallest annual iteration of Apple on iPhone. Still, in a way, there is a lot to be said, from wireless bands to performance to ambitious technology under the hood.

The iPhone X is the best selling smartphone since its launch a little less than a year ago. So, how do you follow the most popular new phone in the world? And how to convince previous iPhone owners do not have jump for the iPhone X, and who were satisfied with how the iPhones were before, to spend more than $ 1000 for the upgrade?

Characteristics

As always, we start with the specifications.

The iPhone XS measures 143.6 mm (5.65 inches) by 70.9 mm (2.79 inches), with a thickness of 7.7 mm (0.3 inches). Its biggest brother, the iPhone XS Max, has a length of 6.2 inches (157.5mm) by 3.05 inches (77.4mm), but it also has a thickness of 0.3 inches . The iPhone XS weighs 6.24 ounces; The iPhone XS Max weighs 7.34 ounces.

Aside from the size and price, there is no significant difference between the iPhone XS and the XS Max. A disassembly by iFixit revealed that the XS uses a new L-shaped L-shaped monobloc battery design, while the XS Max uses a dual battery configuration similar to that of the iPhone X, but it's pretty much almost everything.

In terms of battery life, Apple says iPhone XS users should expect up to 20 hours of wireless conversation, up to 12 hours of Internet use, 15 hours of video playback and 60 hours of audio playback. Overall, the company promises "30 minutes more" than the iPhone X. The iPhone XS Max promises up to 25 hours of talk time, 13 hours of use. Internet, 15 hours of video playback and 65 hours of audio playback. The XS has a battery of 2,716 mAh and the XS Max a battery of 3,175 mAh.

The wireless change is included via the Qi standard, and a wired fast charge when connected to a sturdy computer or power adapter via Lightning / USB is also an option.

Both models have stereo speakers, which Apple claims they offer wider stereo sound than previous iPhone speakers. And, of course, there are microphones. They also feature a barometer, a three-axis gyroscope, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor.

Obviously, iPhones support Wi-Fi and cellular LTE as well as GPS. They also support two SIM cards via eSIM on a few markets, as well as dual physical SIM cards on select models in China. However, the software support for eSIM is still coming. We will list a few new supported tapes and some other wireless features added.

For more information on accessibility features and ratings, refer to the Apple Specifications for Devices page.

Screen

The iPhone XS screen measures 5.8 inches diagonally, compared to 6.5 inches for the iPhone XS Max. Both have the same pixel density at 458ppi (pixels per inch). This means a resolution of 2,436 x 1,125 pixels for the iPhone XS and 2,688 x 1,242 pixels for the iPhone XS Max. Both have OLED displays, which means that their black levels are absolute, so traditional contrast ratio measurements are nonsense. Anyway, Apple arbitrarily claims a contrast ratio of 1,000,000: 1. The company could reasonably have said "infinite" instead, as do some OLED TV makers.

Both screens support Apple's new True Tone technology, large-format P3 and 3D Touch colors. Apple says the screens have a maximum brightness of 625cd / m2, but we measured it at around 670 on both phones.

CPU, GPU and RAM

Both handsets contain Apple's new A12 Bionic chip, which has taken over from A11 Bionic, you guessed it. This chip contains a processor, a graphics processor and the engine Neural Engine, all designed and developed internally at Apple.

Like the A11, the A12 processor has two high-performance cores and four efficient cores. Apple claims that high-performance cores are up to 15% faster than those of the previous chip and that the cores of efficiency consume up to 50% less energy than their predecessors.

The A12 also features an Enhanced Image Signal Processor (ISP) and a secure enclave for data from face identity and others. functions.

The graphics processor has four cores and Apple claims that it is up to 50% faster than the one we saw on the A11 with the iPhone X and iPhone 8. But it is in the Neural engine that Apple claims gains the most important from one year to the next. The neural motor of the A12 has eight cores, while the A11 has only two. According to Apple, the Neural Engine engine can handle up to 5,000 trillion operations per second, which is a huge boost over the 600 billion A11.

Machine learning feeds everything from face ID to palm rejection to Siri searches. IOS 12, which is the update of the operating system introduced by Apple next to these new phones, is a top priority.

Both phones have 4 GB of RAM, against 3 GB in the iPhone X.

Cameras

And then there are the cameras – it 's there that these phones have changed the most compared to the iPhone X from last year. Each phone has two 12 megapixel rear cameras: wide-angle with ƒ / 1.8 aperture and ƒ / 2.4 telephoto. You will enjoy an optical zoom up to 2x and a digital zoom up to 10x, as well as a dual optical image stabilization. There is also a quad-LED flash which, according to Apple, has been slightly modified compared to last year, with a different tone for more natural and desirable colors.

You can record 4K video at 24, 30, or 60 frames per second, plus 30 and 60 frames per second in 1080p, and only 30 frames per second in 720p. An extended dynamic range is available for videos up to 30 frames per second. You can record slow motion video in 1080p at 120 or 240 frames per second. Stereo audio recording is also possible with videos and you can take 8-megapixel stills while filming a video. For video zoom options, it can go up to 2x in optics and 6x in digital.

This is the rear camera. On the front you have a 7 megapixel camera – ƒ / 2.2. It supports 1080p video at 30 or 60 frames per second, and an extended dynamic range of up to 30 frames per second is also available here. The front camera housing also includes the TrueDepth sensor array, a 3D infrared camera for mapping your face and facial expressions, among other things. It is best known for flying Face ID and Animojis, but it can be used for more than that by application and game developers.

Many of the improvements made to the camera by Apple are related to what the company has called "digital photography" (although Apple did not invent that phrase). This means that the enhancements and features do not depend on the optics of the cameras, but on the automatic learning and assistance provided by the A12 chip. This includes smart HDR, portrait lighting, and so on.

Storage configurations and box contents

Last year, the iPhone X was available in 64GB and 256GB storage configurations. This time, we get 64GB, 256GB and 512GB on the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Beyond that, you only choose an aesthetic finish (Space Gray, Gold and Silver) and support. Both phones come with EarPods headphones, wired and in-ear headphones from Apple that connect to the phone's Lightning port. They also come with a Lightning to USB data and charging cable and a 5-watt USB wall-mount power adapter that can not charge these phones quickly.