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13th Sep 2017

Apple introduce two significant changes to iPhone 8

Big changes from tradition.

Alan Loughnane

Using this iPhone will feel strange for a little while…

Apple have introduced the feature its users have been crying out for the most, yes, wireless charging is now available on their new iPhones, as announced at Tuesday’s event.

The iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X all support Qi wireless charging similar to that of recent Samsung devices.

The company is currently working on a charging mat called AirPower which will be capable of charging an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods all at the same time. The product will be available from next year, but Apple showed a preview of it at their launch on Tuesday.

But for now, all Qi-certified products support the iPhone, so they’ll do the trick if you can’t wait until next year.

Another change, that was heavily speculated in the past few months, is the scrapping of the home button on the iPhone in favour of an all-screen design.

The move has drastically changed the look of the iPhone as the home button has been a staple of the iPhone since its introduction in 2007.

It will come with Apple’s new iOS 11 software featuring new on-screen buttons and gestures to replace the physical home button.

It’s unclear whether eliminating the home button will actually have an affect on the performance of the phone. Looking at it objectively, it isn’t really needed anymore and swiping up or down on the home screen to open the phone is similar to most Android models anyway.

However, there’s no Touch ID and instead, has been replaced with facial recognition software which seemed to work perfectly well at Tuesday’s launch. Whether this will be bug free and user friendly, only time will tell.

Topics:

Apple,iPhone