Apple announced iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone Pro Max during Tuesday’s “By Innovation Only” media event. In addition to the new “Pro” moniker, these new devices add a much-improved camera system with three cameras just on the back. They also include more battery life, with up to 4 hours more life than iPhone XS, while iPhone 11 Pro Max has up to 5 hours more battery life than iPhone XS Max. Apple is calling the OLED display on this device a “Super Retina XDR” display, and the company added a forest green color (called midnight green) to the product line.
Super Retina Display
Retina was cool, bu Super Retina is obviously super cool. According to Apple, the “Super Retina XDR display is a pro display with the brightest display ever in an iPhone.” That pro message was a huge part of Apple’s media event presentation, and of course, it’s in the very name: iPhone 11 Pro.
The Super Retina XDR display is an OLED display, but Apple specifically called it, “a custom-designed” display. It features a brightness of up to 1,200 nits and a (essentially insane) contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1. That offers true blacks and what Apple says is an HDR viewing experience for both videos and photos.
Despite all those features, however, Apple said the new display is more power efficient, and the company did deliver more battery life.
Glass Backs and That New Green
Apple is shipping iPhone 11 Pro in four colors, space gray, silver, gold, and the above-mentioned midnight green. I really like that midnight green, but I’m sure I’ll get my usual space gray because [Bryan]. Those colors are delivered via a, “textured matte glass back” and “the toughest glass ever in a smartphone.” During the company’s media event, Apple said the back was milled from that single block of glass, including the camera bulge.
iPhone 11 Pro Camera
As rumors and leaks predicted, Apple replaced the tall and thin camera bulge on the back with a bulgy square. In that square is a Wide Camera, Ultra Wide Camera, and a Telephoto Camera. Note that those aren’t just “lenses,” they’re cameras. During Tuesday’s media event, company executives painted a picture of these new cameras working independently, but being brought together through software for a seamless user experience.
Aside from the display, most of the “Pro” element of iPhone 11 Pro is based on its new camera system. Andrew Orr is working on a standalone piece walking us through all the new camera features in iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro.
iPhone 11 Pro Pricing and Availability
iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max will be available for preorder on September 13th and ship on September 20th. Pricing starts at US$999 for iPhone 11 Pro and $1,099 for iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Bryan:
I was not planning on getting a new iPhone for myself this year. Apple have done such an outstanding job with the iPhone X that I’ve felt, for the first time, absolutely no need to upgrade. Until today’s presentation. The iPhone 11 Pro is lust-worthy in all the right ways. Indeed, this may be the first phone where, especially given that matte backing, I might avoid getting a case. This thing is rugged (okay, perhaps when I’m in the field. It does get ugly). If I did, I know I’d for the space grey, although that midnight green is a close runner up.
More importantly, the iPhone 11 base model is genuine value for money. I haven’t upgraded the phone for the Mrs and the kids in awhile (they’re still using iPhone 8 and my daughter a 7), although none have complained. I might surprise them each individually with the series of BDs on the horizon, and selflessly skip the Pro for myself for the time being, because Apple Watch Series 5.
Yes that green looks very nice.
One of the reasons I put a case on my iPhone is because the surface was so slick.
So the 11 Pro has the three cameras, including the original ‘wide angle’, original zoom and the new wide angle. They added the new wide angle to the non-Pro 11, but they didn’t add another camera. So does it now just have regular wide angle and really wide angle cameras, no 2x optical zoom camera?