After months of leaks and rumours, Apple has officially taken the wraps off its 2019 iPhones, and as expected, we're getting three brand new devices: the iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro, and the questionably named iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are successors to last year's iPhone XS featuring a stainless steel body, three rear-facing cameras, and an OLED display, while the iPhone 11 is meant to be a cheaper alternative with an aluminium body dual rear-facing camera, and a lower resolution LCD display.
This time round, pricing is both cheaper and more expensive. The 64GB iPhone 11 starts at $1,199 - that's $30 less than the iPhone XR launch price last year. The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are a bit pricier, however. The iPhone 11 Pro starts at $1,749 and the iPhone 11 Pro Max starts at $1,899. A 512GB iPhone 11 Pro Max will cost you $2,499.
Before we get into the nitty gritty of what's new, here's the important stuff. You'll be able to pre-order all three devices from 10pm on September 13 ahead of a September 20 release date.
iPhone 11 Pro & iPhone 11 Pro Max
The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max succeed last year's iPhone XS series. From the front, both look identical. In fact, most of the changes are under the hood.
The iPhone 11 Pro is still 5.8-inches, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max is still 6.5-inches. Both still have a notch, and it hasn't gotten any smaller. Facial recognition is faster once again and will work from greater angles, however.
The move to a triple lens rear-facing camera setup is arguably the biggest change to the "Pro" series iPhones. The primary wide-angle lens and 2x zoom lens are joined by a 120-degree ultra-wide lens. This has a 0.5x zoom factor when compared to the primary lens, letting you zoom out rather than zoom in.
In addition, the iPhone 11 Pro finally has a night mode, similar to what we've seen on smartphones like the Huawei P30 Pro and Google Pixel 3a. In dark environments, night mode can be used to take multiple images over a longer period of time to stitch them together into a brighter photo.
Apple also provided a sneak peak of a new feature coming to the iPhone 11 Pro camera called Deep Fusion. Deep Fusion takes nine images and assembles them with added detail and lower noise. The company describes it as "computational photography mad science". This feature won't be available at launch, but should drop later this year.
Selfie lovers aren't left out of the upgrades either. The iPhone 11 Pro now has a 12MP sensor which allows for wider shots, and can shoot slow motion video.
As you'd expect, there's faster hardware under the hood. Dubbed the A13 Bionic, the iPhone 11 Pro's new chip is said to be the fastest processor and graphics processor found in a smartphone. In terms of processing performance, Apple claims the iPhone 11 Pro is two times faster than the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+.
Apple also says the A13 is its most battery efficient chip to date. As such, the iPhone 11 Pro should get four hours more charge than the iPhone XS, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max should get five more hours than the iPhone XS Max. Mercifully, Apple is finally including a fast charger in the box, rather than making you pay extra.
Other changes include tougher glass, Wi-Fi 6 support, the removal of 3D Touch, and improved water-resistance (up to depths of four metres).
The iPhone 11 Pro rear glass features a new matte texture, and will be available in midnight green, space grey, silver, and a "new" gold. Pricing is as follows:
- iPhone 11 Pro 64GB: $1,749
- iPhone 11 Pro 256GB: $1,999
- iPhone 11 Pro 512GB: $2,349
- iPhone 11 Pro Max 64GB: $1,899
- iPhone 11 Pro Max 256GB: $2,149
- iPhone 11 Pro Max 512GB: $2,499
iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max will be available in the following days.
iPhone 11
The iPhone 11 is Apple's slightly more affordable 2019 iPhone, succeeding the iPhone XR. As with the iPhone XR, you'll be able to grab it in a choice of six colours, including white, black, red, yellow, green, and purple. The new additions of green and purple replace the blue and coral colours we saw on the iPhone XR.
While the iPhone 11 will cost you around $550 less than a comparable iPhone 11 Pro, it shares most of the same features.
You get the same A13 processor, the same primary camera lens, the same ultra-wide angle lens, night mode, the same 12MP selfie camera, and a very similar design.
In addition, the iPhone 11 should have a killer battery life - Apple says you'll get an hour more per charge than the iPhone XR, which was previously the best iPhone to date in terms of battery life. Apple's vague battery measurements make it hard to judge if the iPhone 11 will beat out the iPhone 11 Pro Max, but both should deliver more than a full day of charge.
There are however a few differences between the iPhone 11 and its Pro siblings. It's 6.1-inch display is LED rather than OLED (and runs at a lower resolution), the build is aluminium rather than stainless steel, water-resistance is rated for two metres rather than four metres (although still IP68), and you're missing out on the 2x zoom lens. We're not sure if the iPhone 11 will feature the iPhone 11 Pro's Deep Fusion mode.
Despite the lack of a second lens, the iPhone 11 still gets portrait mode through some software tricks. This time around, it also works on animals and inanimate objects, rather than just people.
Here's how the three models compare:
2019 iPhone specifications
| iPhone 11 | iPhone 11 Pro | iPhone 11 Pro Max | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.1-inch LED | 5.8-inch OLED | 6.5-inch OLED |
| Resolution | Retina | Super Retina | Super Retina |
| Material | Aluminium | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel |
| Rear-Facing Camera | 12MP + 12MP | 12MP + 12MP + 12MP | 12MP + 12MP + 12MP |
| Processor | A13 | A13 | A13 |
| Storage | 64GB - 256GB | 64GB - 512GB | 64GB - 512GB |
| Water-Resistance | Up to 2 metres | Up to 4 metres | Up to 4 metres |
| Price | From $1,199 | From $1,749 | From $1,899 |
iPhone 11 pricing is as follows:
- iPhone 11 64GB: $1,199
- iPhone 11 128GB: $1,279
- iPhone 11 256GB: $1,449
iPhone 11 plans will be available in the following days.
Old iPhone price cuts
The iPhone XR, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus are all sticking around, and have all received a discount. New pricing for Apple's existing iPhone lineup is as follows:
- iPhone XR 64GB: $1,049
- iPhone XR 128GB: $1,129
- iPhone 8 64GB: $779
- iPhone 8 128GB: $859
- iPhone 8 Plus 64GB: $949
- iPhone 8 Plus 128GB: $1,029
The iPhone XR and iPhone 8 should also come down in price on contract shortly, so if you'd prefer to pay your device off over two years, you can compare all iPhone plans here.
Notably, Apple has discontinued the iPhone XS, the iPhone XS Max, the iPhone 7, and the iPhone 7 Plus.
Alex Choros
Related Articles
