CUPERTINO, Calif. — The crowd at Apple’s new “spaceship” headquarters saw new smartphones – including a premium version priced at $999 – as the company commemorated its 10th anniversary of the iPhone.

Apple opened the event by asking the audience to cover their screens as an audio clip of Steve Jobs played. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said that it was fitting that Jobs opened the theater – named after him – where the event was taking place.

“His greatest expression of his appreciation for humanity would not be a singular product, but rather it would be Apple itself,” Cook said.

The bar is very high for Apple. Most of its revenue is generated through the smartphone. Cook promised that the company’s new phones would make a splash by defining the future of the smartphone.

THE IPHONE 8 AND 8 PLUS

About midway through Apple’s event, Apple’s head of marketing, Phil Schiller, showed off the upgrades to the main iPhone line. Clad in an aluminum and glass skin that comes in black, gray and gold, the new devices are speedier with sharper screens and better battery efficiency. The phones will also accommodate wireless charging. Schiller said chargers will be made by third-party vendors and appear at partner coffee shops and retail stores, as well as some new cars.

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The new smartphones have revamped cameras using a feature called “portrait lighting” that will automatically optimize the lighting in your photos. The cameras also have substantially improved slow-motion video recording.

Schiller took some time to tout the smartphones’ ability to do more in augmented reality – which is expected to be a key area of growth for video games and other software apps. An app from Major League Baseball, for example, will display live stats over players when users look at the field through their iPhone screens.

Apple is bumping up the base storage capacity of an iPhone 8 to 64 GB at a price of $699. The larger iPhone 8 Plus will start at $799. Both will be available for order Friday and ship Sept. 22.

THE IPHONE X

After the iPhone 8 presentation, Cook retook the stage to offer – in Jobs’ iconic words, “one more thing” – the iPhone X.

The phone, he said, was the “biggest leap since the original iPhone.” (The company is pronouncing it the iPhone 10 – “X” is the Roman numeral for 10).

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The iPhone X will start at $999, considerably more than the base price of previous models. It will be available for pre-order on Oct. 27, and ship on Nov. 3.

The iPhone X has an advanced array of cameras for facial recognition, which allows the phone to become unlocked just by looking at it. The cameras can learn a user’s face and note gradual changes. And it can be used at night or in the daytime.

The new high-end smartphone has a 5.8-inch display that covers the entire surface of the phone. Unlike its cheaper sibling, the iPhone 10 comes in space grey and silver and sports a “super” retina display, which Schiller said was much sharper than any other iPhone because it uses OLED display technology.

Notably, there also is no home button. Users must swipe and use gestures to close an app. Calling up Siri can now be done with a new side button.

The iPhone X boasts updated cameras as well, with the same features of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, as well as the capability to take better selfies. Battery life is two hours longer than the iPhone 7.

Like the new iPhone 8, the iPhone X can be charged wirelessly. Apple said that next year it will release a charger pad that can simultaneously recharge the iPhone 8, its new Apple Watch Series 3 and a new version of its earphones, called the AirPods.

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THE APPLE WATCH SERIES 3

The new Apple Watch – called the Series 3 – will have its own cellular connectivity, said Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams, who is also in charge of Apple’s Watch division. The Watch will be able to receive calls – using your iPhone’s number – and can support apps such as Maps and WeChat. The new Apple Watch will also be compatible with Apple Music, meaning it can be used as a music player on its own.

Williams said the new watch can play up to 40 million songs using Apple Music. Siri also gets a boost – conversations with Apple’s artificial intelligence can happen without even lifting an arm.

Starting Sept. 22, the cellular version of the Watch will go on sale for $399. Without cellular connection, it will cost $329. The Series 1 Apple Watch’s price will drop to $249.

The Series 3 watch will be available Sept. 22, with orders starting Friday.


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