Apple refreshed its line of iPhones for 2019 at an event on Tuesday, announcing the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. The phones start at $699, $999 and $1,099, respectively -- perhaps a surprising price in a world where we're used to paying $1,000 for an iPhone. These new iPhones pick up a fresh palette of colors, longer battery life and a A13 Bionic processor inside that promises faster performance. But more than any other feature, it's the camera hardware and software that take the headlining role. There are three cameras on the back of the Pro phones and two on the back of the iPhone 11. See below for our early hands-on impressions.
This new crop of iPhones may wear different colors, but in terms of overall design, they look strikingly like last year's iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR -- notch and all.
Those three cameras on the back of the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max are Apple's biggest risks in a series that plays it safe this year. For many people, the iPhone represents the gold standard for smartphone design and cutting-edge features like Face ID unlocking, which Apple says is now faster than before. But despite bread-and-butter features, like support for Wi-Fi 6, the iPhone 11 trio fails to push the envelope, relying instead on the big camera change and smaller refinements to keep up momentum.
Now playing:iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max are packed with camera features
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There's no 5G carrier support (we expect that to come in 2020), and none of the reverse wireless charging that was rumored to charge the Apple AirPods, Apple Watch and other phones of the back of the iPhone 11 -- as you can with the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 phones.
Apple also held back on rumored features like making the new iPhone 11s compatible with the Apple Pencil, and a USB-C port that was whispered to replace the Lightning connection.
Without a strong suite of new features to tantalize buyers, Apple has its work cut out for it as it heads into the hyper-competitive holiday season and 2020. Phone sales are down. Competitors like Samsung, Google and Huawei are pulling ahead on camera tools and features. And then there's the question of 5G -- iPhone users will have to wait a full year unless Apple surprises us all with a special event before September 2020.
The iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max go on preorder starting Friday, Sept. 13 at 5 a.m. PT. They arrive in-store on Sept. 20. Apple will continue to sell the iPhone XR for $599 and the iPhone 8 for $449.
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We tried the iPhone 11 phones and here's what we think
CNET went hands-on with the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Max. The colors and finishes look and feel more refined -- and a lot less like fingerprint magnets -- than last year's phones, especially compared to the iPhone XR, which is equivalent to this year's iPhone 11.
What stood out most were the cameras, and the telephoto lens especially because that feels like the main difference between the iPhone 11 and the far pricier 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max. All three phones share most of the other features, at least so far as we could tell during our brief hands-on time with the phone.
The new slow-mo video mode for the front-facing camera is fun, but not a must-have feature by any means. Still, we wouldn't be surprised if other phone-makers cribbed this one.
Watch this:Hands-on with the iPhone 11's ultra-wide-angle camera
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The two iPhone 11 Pro phones get a new matte finish and steel case that look stunning, and feel dense. Maybe you think of that as gravitas. We think it's a bit hefty. Photos don't do the midnight green shade justice. Chalk us up as fans. We're not sure the surcharge from regular iPhone 11 to 11 Pro is worth it for the finish alone, but having that telephoto lens does help round out the feature set.
Swapping among the three camera lenses on the Pro and Pro Max feels seamless, and a new "Haptic Touch" feedback that Apple's using instead of 3D Touch is pretty easy to invoke on the sharp new display -- just hold down your finger.
Rear cameras: Wide, ultrawide, telephoto
The iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max are all about the camera. Competing brands are no stranger to the three-camera system (or even four!), but this marks Apple's first time pairing a wide-angle lens with both telephoto and ultrawide-angle sensors.
We're working up a camera deep dive for you soon, but what you really need to know is that Apple wants to make it as easy for you to switch from the main 12-megapixel camera lens to the 13-megapixel ultrawide-angle lens to the 12-megapixel telephoto sensor, which you do from the main camera screen.
Having used this type of system on other phones, like the Huawei P30 Pro and Galaxy Note 10 for example, it really can make photos more atmospheric or striking -- especially landscape shots -- when taken with the ultrawide lens. Apple says it will fit in four times the amount of scenery compared to the main camera.
On the flip side, a telephoto shot can make the difference between grabbing your picture or not when you're too far to really see the face or detail you're trying to capture because you're simply too far away. A concert, a cornice on a historical building, a celebrity behind a velvet rope. That sort of thing. Apple says it'll deliver a total of 4x optical zoom through its camera system, though the telephoto lens is specced out for 2x optical zoom.
Dedicated night mode is another thing that's become a base feature in premium phones. It's intended to make details brighter and reduce noise in low-lit conditions.
But the most interesting feature, which we won't see at the iPhone 11's launch (it'll come to all three phones) is Deep Fusion, which takes the best features from nine different images that the iPhone automatically takes. It uses machine learning to combine these disparate shots in a second, then serve up a compilation with sharper details than you'd get if you took it yourself. That's the theory, anyway.
The last feature we can't wait to try out is slow-motion video for the front-facing camera, but maybe that's just so we can say we took a "slofie". We're not sure if we're going to love to hate it or hate to love it, but yeah, one of those.
Apple/Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
New iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max key specs
Two screen sizes: 5.8- and 6.5-inch OLED displays (both 458 ppi pixel density)
iPhone 11 Pro starts at $999 or $25 per month (£1,049, AU$1,749)
iPhone 11 Pro Max starts at $1,099 or $29 per month (£1,149, AU$1,899)
Apple/Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET
What's new in the iPhone 11
Six colors: black, white, yellow, purple, green, Product Red
A13 Bionic chip
64GB, 128GB, 512GB storage capacities
Hour more battery life than iPhone XR
Faster Face ID unlocking
Wi-Fi 6 support, but no 5G
Dual camera system with a 12-megapixel lenses: wide and ultrawide (switch by tapping on the screen)
Camera night mode
2x optical zoom
New portrait lighting in monochrome
12-megapixel front-facing camera (up from 7 megapixels)
4K video for both front and rear cameras, with slow-motion video for the selfie camera
iOS 13
Starts at $699 or $17 per month (£729, AU$1,199)
Will the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max reinvigorate Apple's iPhones, or will excitement flag? Stay tuned as we weigh in on Apple's announcement and go hands-on when we see Apple's new iPhones after the event.
Scott Stein contributed to this story, which was updated throughout the day.
For the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, the cameras are everything.
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