Review: Newest iPhones refine Apple’s approach to mobility

by Blaine Kyllo on November 8th, 2018 at 12:16 PM

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Ever since test-driving the iPhone X last year, I’ve been waiting to see how Apple would iterate the smartphone. After all, the device, developed and released as a 10th-anniversary model of the mobile device that disrupted the industry, had changed so much.

The iPhone XS and XS Max have all of the features that made the iPhone X such a delight to use. The edge-to-edge display (5.8 inch and 6.5 inch) is something that other handset manufacturers had been doing, but Apple’s face-recognition technology is second to none, and that’s still what makes the XS and XS Max so amazing.

In low light, with glasses on or a hat, the iPhone XS Max has never failed to recognize me and activate. The integration of passwords into the iOS 12 operating system only makes this even more revolutionary. I can simply look at my phone to access payments and log in to accounts.

It won’t take long for you to adjust to not having a home button, either. The gestural controls that were introduced with the iPhone X are intuitive and obvious. My only problem is going to be having to return to using an iPhone 8s Plus, because I’ll have to unlearn everything.

One key area of improvement to be found in the XS and XS Max are in how the devices approach taking photos. High dynamic range (HDR) has been improved to capture and display more details in highlights and shadows using the dual-camera system (a wide angle and a telephoto, each with 12 megapixel resolution).

One of the most interesting additions to the iPhone XS and XS Max is the addition of dual SIM support. While it’s not yet been rolled out, what that will do is allow a single iPhone to be used with two different phone numbers. For people who are bringing their device to work, this could be a game changer.

The iPhone XS is available in three configurations: