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iPhone X Review | Apple’s finest smartphone ever
Apr 30, 2024
More Apple news: http://www.cultofmac.com Smartphones are changing, and every manufacturer possesses its own take on what the future should look like. Apple’s vision is the iPhone X, which arrives 10 years after the original with big changes and an even bigger price tag. For iPhone X, Apple did away with aluminum unibodies, chunky bezels, Touch ID and the beloved Home button. In their place, iPhone X sports polished stainless steel and smooth glass, an edge-to-edge Super Retina HD display, and Face ID. The result proves stunning. Apple just made the iPhone exciting again. But is iPhone X worth $999? Review written by Killian Bell Follow us! Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultofmac Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cultofmac Instagram: https://instagram.com/cultofmac/
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Smartphones are changing, and every manufacturer possesses its own take on what the future
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should look like. Apple's vision is the iPhone 10, which arrives 10 years after the original, with big changes
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and an even bigger price tag. For the iPhone 10, Apple did away with the aluminum unibodies, chunky bezels, touch ID
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and the beloved home button. In their place, iPhone 10 sports polished stainless steel and smooth glass, an edge to red super
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retina HD display and face ID. The result proved stunning. Apple just made the iPhone exciting again
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But is the iPhone 10 worth $999? iPhone fans dealt with plenty of disappointment in recent years
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Apple's best-selling product became boring and in need of major changes. It looked the same for three whole years and like the game-changing innovations, Apple fans craved
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The iPhone 10 looks right at home alongside the best products Apple's ever made. We won't forget the stunning smartphone for a long time
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iPhone design became lazy in recent years. The aluminium unibody of the iPhone 6 series never felt quite as special as the iPhone 5
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an iPhone 4 that came before it, and we had to endure that for far too long before Apple made a change
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But what a change it is! With the iPhone 10, Apple pulled out all of the stops to make its finest smartphone yet
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The curved glass panels combined beautifully with the shiny stainless steel frame to create a premium package that looks and feels fantastic
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The iPhone 10 is a little bit heavier than its predecessors, which only adds to its premium feel
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It's also slightly thicker at 7.7mm but not too thick or too heavy to be uncomfortable
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to hold for long periods. But you will need a tight grip because the iPhone 10 is slippery
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That's the downside to all of that glass. The white glass back of the silver iPhone 10 is a fingerprint magnet and it feels like you're
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about to drop it. Climsy hands will definitely need a case. Apple says its glass is reinforced with steel this year but it's still glass so it will break
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if you drop it. I found the iPhone 10 to be particularly difficult to hold onto when playing games or taking pictures
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and landscape orientation. When your thumbs need to reach controls in the bottom corners of the display, it feels like
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the device could slip out of your hands at any moment. The camera hump is larger on the iPhone 10 than it was on previous iPhones, despite the
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new handsets thicker body. I'm still not a fan of that, but it's a sacrifice worth making for the iPhone 10's
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solid camera. But I'll come back to that in a few minutes. One thing that does concern me is how easily the polished stainless steel frame might scuff
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I've seen a lot of people already complaining about scratches, and our very own Killian Bell
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has already picked some up while applying and removing a case. The iPhone 10 is a little bit wider and a little taller than the iPhone 7 and you can certainly
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feel it. But it shouldn't feel too big, it's nowhere near as large as the iPhone 8 plus despite a bigger
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screen and that's all thanks to the incredible edge-to-edge display. The Super Retina HD display is the biggest reason to buy the iPhone 10
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Words cannot do it justice. It's the prettiest and sharpest iPhone display ever, it boasts bright and vibrant colors, darker
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blacks and support for Dolby Vision H.T. Bold text and app icons pop out like stickers attached to the glass screen The slim bezels around it mean you get lost in your content like never before The latest movies and TV shows look jaw as to games The Super Retina display is colour
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as you'd expect from an iPhone display. It's not oversaturated like Samsung screens
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or washed out like Googles. It's bright enough to use outdoors in bright sunlight
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and it gets dim enough that it's comfortable to use in bed in a dark room. The viewing angles are great
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but there is a slight blue tint that creeps in on an extreme tilt, but you'll never really see that during normal use
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This is common with OLED displays, but the iPhone 10 does a great job of eliminating it as much as possible
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The iPhone 10 also boasts true tone technology, just like the iPad Pro, and it works wonders
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The temperature of the display automatically adjusts to match ambient light, making the iPhone 10 much more comfortable to look at
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Yes, the iPhone 10 has a notch in its display, and yes, you'll notice it at first
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But don't let that put you off. It really is a non-issue. After using the phone for a short time, you'll forget the notch even exists
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You'll still get lost in your content and ignore what's surrounding it
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The notch proves a little more noticeable in landscape orientation depending on what you're doing
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It can get in the way when you're scrolling through a web page, for example, but who really
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browses the web and landscape? Some say the iPhone 10 notch gets in the way when watching video, but I disagree
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Again, you get lost in the content so quickly that you forget it even there
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You very rarely focus your eyes on the edges of the screen when watching a movie or a TV show
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Many apps and games already accommodate the notch well, and take full advantage of the iPhone
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iPhone 10's larger display. But plenty don't just yet. So you'll have to learn to live with the big black borders and some of your favorite titles
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for now. That's a shame but we just have to accept it. It's not a massive issue and if you're avoiding the iPhone 10 just because of the notch
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you're really missing out. One thing that won't get in your way is a home button because the iPhone 10 doesn't have one
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There's simply no room for it with that edge to edge display. Instead, Apple implemented some sweet iPhone 10 control gestures
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You swipe up to unlock and go home, swipe left and right to switch between apps, and twice
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swipe up and hold to get the app switcher. These incredibly intuitive gestures prove easy to master
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And they work well. They feel much more natural than clicking a button. Apple could make some improvements though
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It takes too long for the app switcher to appear when you swipe up and hold. This could happen much more quickly, and I also miss the ability to swipe apps away to close them
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Swiping down from the top right for Control Center takes a little while to get used to after years of swiping up from the bottom of the screen
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Apple obviously had no choice but to change it for the iPhone 10, so we can't complain too much
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You might find yourself closing apps when you're meant to open the control center at first
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and you might open control center when you're meant to check notifications, but you should adjust
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relatively quickly. No home button also means no touch ID, but the iPhone 10 delivers something even better
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Face ID is wonderfully simple to set up and work surprisingly well
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Rumors indicated Apple's technology is years ahead of its rivals, and it really shows
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Face ID proves remarkably reliable for unlocking the iPhone 10 in a variety of conditions
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and it so fast that you even forget you have protection When face ID is used properly and it can identify you in an instant you don even know it working You pick up your iPhone and by the time you swiped up to access the home screen the unlocking process is already complete Occasionally it does take a little
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bit longer and you see the Face ID animation, but it's never slow, and it very rarely
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fails to work at all when you're looking at your iPhone properly. I'm delighted with how well it
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worked for me over the past three days. Face ID is significantly more secure than Touch ID
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and it has other advantages. It works perfectly well in the dark, all
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when you're wearing glasses or a hat, and unlike Touch ID, it even works when you're wearing gloves
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or your hands are wet. I've used Face ID a lot, both indoors and outdoors, and it's been terrific
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The technology behind Face ID also allows for an emoji, the animated emoji characters that mimic your facial expressions
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They're really fun to make, and I've sent more than I care to admit over the past weekend
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My friends and family must be sick of seeing them by now. Right now, you can choose from 12 characters, The Monkey's my favourite, and Apple will likely add more to keep an emoji fresh
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But I suspect the novelty will wear off eventually. I think we'll quickly get bored of them in the same way that we got bored of live photos
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But maybe I'm wrong. The iPhone 10 packs Apple's brand new A-11 bionic chip
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which made its debut in the iPhone 8 back in September. Apple says its quad-core processor is up to 70% faster than last year's A-10 Fusion
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while its graphics are up to 30% faster. This isn't immediately obvious because the iPhone 10 just feels like my iPhone 7 did in everyday use
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And that's not a bad thing. The iPhone 7 still performs externally. but it will take time to notice performance improvements
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When developers create new games that take advantage of the additional power, that's one we'll rarely notice
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iOS 11 itself is just as smooth and snappy as you would hope, and it feels a little less
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buggy on the iPhone 10, though that could be a result of Apple's latest update
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Multitasking, taking pictures, recording 4K video, and just about everything else you might
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throw at this phone are all effortlessly carried out. It's still too early for me to decide how good battery life is on the iPhone 10, so I'll describe
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how it's been over the past three days. Apple says the device should run two hours longer than the iPhone 7 in between charges, and
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I found it's definitely better, but not by much. I charged my iPhone 10 to 100% when I received it around lunchtime on launch day
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I used it heavily after that, testing performance and just being an awe of its display
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In the evening, I topped it up again when the battery dropped below 20%
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I unplugged at around 8am the second day and used it to a little less because I had other
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things to do. However, I used it to stream Apple music quite a bit throughout the day, the battery lasted all day
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with no problems, but it fell to less than 20% by the time I got to bed around 11pm
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On the third day, I unplugged the iPhone around 9am, used it as I would normally use my smartphone
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throughout the day, and still had less than 20% battery when I went to bed around midnight
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You're going to get a full day's use out with this phone if you're not on a Netflix binge or
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gaming for hours on end, but you won't get a great deal more than that. Fortunately, the iPhone 10 supports fast charging
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So when you do need to top up, it's much faster than before, assuming that you're using
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the proper charger Apple says you can get around 50 of power in just 30 minutes It ideal if you topping up after work in preparation for a long night out The iPhone 10 also supports wireless
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charging, and it's about time. It's not as fast as charging by cable, but it's far more convenient
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When you don't need to power quickly, placing your iPhone down on a charging mat is the simplest
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way to charge it. Apple never lets us down when it comes to camera performance. The iPhone 10
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supports dual cameras like the iPhone 8 Plus, but they're slightly better here. One is a 12 megapa
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wide angle lens with an F1.8 aperture and the other is a 12 megapixel telephoto lens with
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an F2.4 aperture. Both utilize optical image stabilization. The result is beautiful
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photos and videos in almost all lighting conditions. You can expect great detail, contrast
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and color and some of the best zoom photos you can take on a smartphone. Optical image
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stabilization for that telephoto lens makes a real difference here. It also helps
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to improve photos taken in low light. Images taken in darker settings without flash come
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more brighter and include less noise. Apple improved its LED flash for the iPhone 10
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so you should expect better results. However, I always think it's still best
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to avoid using the flash if possible. 4K video captured by the iPhone 10 looks spectacularly good
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And slow-mo videos can now be recorded at 240 frames per second
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in 1080p. Portrait mode, which uses the iPhone 10's dual cameras to create depth of field effects similar to a DSLR camera
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can produce impressive pictures. Some of the photos I've taken look spectacular
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while others just make the subject so fuzzy around the edges that they're not worth keeping
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Apple can improve this with software and I'll continue to use it, but I expected better results
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The iPhone 10's staged lighting effect also disappointed me. It's great when it works, but it often leaves parts of the background exposed, or black bits out of your subject
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It's still on Baza, however, so Apple will be working to improve it. Portrait photos taken with a front-facing camera can also turn out great, despite just one lens
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Standard stills and videos will also look better, thanks for an improved, 7 megapixel true depth camera with an F2.2 aperture
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Overall, the iPhone remains an incredible camera. Some areas could use some improvement, but the images and videos you take will blow you away
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The iPhone 10 is the upgrade we've waited for. It combines the breathtaking design that Apple is famous for, with new technologies that make
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using a smartphone a much more enjoyable experience. It makes the iPhone exciting all over again
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The iPhone 10 is by far the best smartphone Apple has ever made, and perhaps the best smartphone
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money can buy it today. Sure, it costs a lot, starting at $999 for the 64 gig model, but its super retina HD display
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improved cameras, face ID, and features like wireless charging make it worth every penny
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If you can't afford one right now, don't buy a cheaper phone, stick with what you have until
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you can. The iPhone 10 is well worth the weight. Well, that is it for this video
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If you enjoyed it, go ahead and hit that like button down below. Subscribe if you haven't already, and I will catch you the next one
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