We are now less than one week away from Apple’s big launch event. All eyes are on the tech giant as the company gears up for the 10th anniversary of the original iPhone. It feels like just yesterday I was jailbreaking my iPhone 3GS so I could change the wallpaper to whatever I wanted. How times have changed… Now, you can change the wallpaper on an iPhone without jailbreaking! There are a few other features they have added over the years as well.
Next week will surely be a huge event for both Apple and Apple fans. With a brand new iPhone design on deck and ready to launch, Apple looks to be laying down the groundwork for the biggest iPhone launch since the original. We don’t really know what the device will be called yet, however. I have been calling it the iPhone 8 all summer. New leaks claim to show packaging that confirms the iPhone X name. I still have my money on “iPhone Pro” but the tide seems to be moving in a different direction than me. In any case, the name will be confirmed next week.
Even more important than the name of the device is when people can finally go out and buy one. Now, the dates for iPhone X preorders have been leaked thanks to a German website, Macerkopf. The site claims that German carriers will begin iPhone X preorders on September 15th. That’s just a few days after next week’s big announcement. It’s unclear if all carriers around the world are held to that date or if this is the German preorder date only. In any case, that gives people who want to put their name in for iPhone X preorders a few days to consider their purchase and check out some hands on videos that will surely come from tech review sites who get to check out the device after the launch.
Of course, carrier iPhone X preorders will likely factor in a discount for signing a service agreement so you won’t have to put down the full amount for the iPhone X. However, for those who want an off-contract device; the price will be pretty steep. The newest report we have seen claims the iPhone X will start at around $900. Obviously, models with higher amounts of storage will cost more. That puts the iPhone X pretty much right in line with the Galaxy Note 8. However, the iPhone X is noticeably lacking a bundled stylus like the S Pen and a 3.5mm headphone port. Not a big deal if you don’t care about having a stylus and you don’t mind living the dongle life.
One of the biggest challenges with iPhone X preorders may be availability. There have been some rumors that Apple will have limited stock of the iPhone X available on the release date. If the suggested figures of 2 to 4 million iPhone X units available on release day are accurate then that means there could be a lot of disappointed Apple fans. Of course, production will ramp up throughout the fall and, if you don’t mind waiting, it shouldn’t be too hard to find an iPhone X in the new year. That won’t be much consolation for those who didn’t get their iPhone X preorders fulfilled. Let’s just hope carriers are honest about an expected fulfillment date before allowing people to place iPhone X preorders, especially if a deposit has to be put down.
The iPhone X hype is building to a feverish point right now. We are less than a week away from the big reveal and, while we know a lot about the device, there are still so many questions up in the air. We do know that the iPhone X will have an all-new design. The OLED display will be bezel-less like many other flagship devices launched this year. This will mark the biggest change in iPhone design pretty much since the original iPhone. A vertically aligned dual camera sensor will be ready to show off the augmented reality capabilities of the iPhone X. I’m also hoping we will get to see an in-depth AR demonstration during Apple’s event next week.
And, of course, the iPhone X will be running on iOS 11 which brings a whole stable of new features to iOS devices. This launch promises to be the biggest iPhone launch since… Well… The iPhone. Are you getting excited? Will you be placing a preorder for the iPhone X or will you hold off and see what the first impressions are?
