7 new words Apple is trying to take mainstream

Cupertino’s marketing department unleashed a slew of fancy new Apple buzzwords to describe iPhone 11 features landing in stores later this month.

New Apple buzzwords

Frankly, it’s hard to think of a tech company that can exert influence on pop culture more easily than Apple. If today’s fast-paced “By Innovation Only” keynote is any indication, you might as well just embrace these new words and features before they go mainstream on September 20.

Slofie

Apple’s website and new ads for the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro are pushing the “slofie” thing hard. All three of the new iPhones have a new 12-megapixel front camera sensor that lets you record slow-motion videos at 120fps. Apple is encouraging people to take advantage of it by filming slo-mo selfies, or “slofies” for short. We’d hate to see this actually become a thing, but it’s probably going to happen.

Super Retina XDR

Apple is trying to build the same technology from its Mac Pro monitor into the iPhone. Apple calls the new iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max screens “Super Retina XDR” displays. Boasting two new peaks of brightness, they can pump out 800 nits when you’re in the sun. They automatically adjust to 1,200 nits if you view extreme dynamic range content.

The new Super Retina XDR display is also up to 15 percent more power-efficient and can turn off individual pixels to produce true blacks. And because it’s power-efficient it gives the new iPhones better battery life, giving you more time to binge on all your favorite shows.

Night mode

Night Mode is Apple’s answer to Google’s ‘Night Sight’ feature introduced on the Pixel 3. Both the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro cameras come with the new feature that turns on automatically to help brighten photos in dark environments. Using adaptive bracketing, Apple intelligently fuses images together to eliminate motion and blur from long exposures.

LPTO

The Apple Watch Series 5 is the first watch to have an LPTO display which stands for Low-Temperature Polysilicon and Oxide. This advanced technology allows the display to refresh dynamically so the Apple Watch display can remain on at all times without using a ton of battery power in the process.

The display can be powered by as high as 60Hz and as low as 1Hz. Apple added a new low-power display driver for the screen along to pull this off. (A power-management integrated circuit and ambient light sensors help, too.)

PVD Coating

The iPhone 11 Pro is made with a band of surgical-grade stainless steel sandwiched by the display in the front and a Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) coating on the glass in the back. Apple’s fancy PVD coating gives the back a gorgeous matte finish. It looks awesome. It also feels better in your hand, because it’s not as slippery as the iPhone XS’ back.

QuickTake

Taking a page out of Instagram and Snapchat’s playbooks, Apple added a new feature that lets you record short videos without switching between Photo and Video mode in the camera app. Just hold your finger on the shutter to start a recording. If you want to keep the recording going, swipe to the right. If you wanted to see the recording as burst mode photos, just swipe to the left.

U1 Chip

The iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro both picked up Apple’s newest custom piece of silicon called the U1 chip. It uses Ultra Wideband technology to precisely locate other U1-equipped devices. Think of it as super-specific GPS. It also adds a cool feature to AirDrop. Now, when you point your iPhone at a potential recipient, their iPhone will pop to the top of your share list.