iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus to be available on September 22

As expected, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus were announced at today’s Apple event. There’s a new glass front and back, with an aluminum trim around the sides. It is a very durable glass, and microscopically sealed for water and dust resistance. 

The device has a True Tone display for the first time, as well as an all new A11 Bionic System on Chip. The A11 Bionic has six cores, two of which are performance cores and four of which are efficiency cores. 

Of course, the camera has been improved! A new 12MP sensor is in the iPhone 8, and two sensors are found in the iPhone 8 Plus. Apple has added a feature called Portrait Lighting to the iPhone 8 Plus. It provides lighting effects for photos in real time, and the effects can be changed after you’ve taken the photo. 

Video will now be 4K 60 frames per second (or 1080p 240 frame per second slo-mo), and 2 million image tiles are analyzed each second. As you are shooting, the video is analyzed.

Augmented reality is a huge area for Apple, and today Phil Schiller noted that the iPhone 8 is the first smartphone optimized for AR. 

MLB AtBat will actually superimpose player stats onto players in real time. Amazing stuff! Several other AR apps were demonstrated during the show. 

As expected, the iPhone 8 will support wireless charging using the Qi standard. Qi chargers will be sold in the Apple retail stores.

It will be available in 64GB and 256GB configurations, with the iPhone 8 starting at $699 and the iPhone 8 Plus available at $799. iOS 11 will arrive on September 19, the phones can be pre-ordered on September 15 and will be available on September 22.