Early this morning, 3 a.m Eastern Time, Apple pulled the trigger and started selling [1] the newest iPhones that will be in stores on September 21, 2018. These iPhones are the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Last year, paying over $1000, I purchased the iPhone X. I got the one with the most storage, 256GB. But just short of 1 year later, I have decided to upgrade and purchase the newer model, the iPhone XS. Why did I do so? The main reason is that despite what some people think, the iPhone XS has all sorts of new technology that the iPhone X doesn’t have. Let’s go through all the new technology that the iPhone XS has.

Better Face ID


Face ID, the technology that last year replaced TouchID as a security feature for the iPhone, is supposed to be better in the iPhone XS (whenever I refer to the iPhone XS I also am referring to the iPhone XS Max, which is the same as the iPhone XS but has a a bigger screen, 6.5 inch diagonal versus a 5.8 inch diagonal.). Apple in its keynote on Wednesday, September 12, 2018 , and on its website, highlights that the iPhone XS has “Advanced Face ID.”  According to Apple Face ID is “even faster” with the new IPhone XS.  

More Powerful Bionic Chip


Apple has upgraded the Bionic Chip, which it first rolled out in the iPhone X. The new chip is called the A12. The iPhone X has the A11 chip. According to Apple, the Bionic chip controls augmented reality experiences, Depth Control pictures and “speed and fluidity in everything you do.” Quoting Apple’s website.   A12 Bionic chip is “up to 50% faster graphics performance,” has “8-core Neural Engine, “Up to 15% faster performance cores,” “up to 50% lower power usage in efficiency cores,” “Enhanced image signal processor,” and “advanced performance controller.” Quoting Apple’s website. Significantly, the iPhone XS’s A12 Bionic chip features a 7nm design, which is the first 7nm size chip in any smartphone. The A12 Bionic chip in the iPhone XS can perform 5 trillion operations per second.  By comparison, the A11 chip in the iPhone X can perform 600 billion calculations per second. See AppleInsider.  This more powerful chip will help make all the pictures and video look better.

Better Photo Taking and Video Shooting

The iPhone XS has something now called “Smart HDR,” which Apple describes as “Leveraging multiple technologies – like faster sensors, an enhanced ISP, and advanced algorithms – Smart HDR brings more highlight and shadow detail to your photos.” Quoting Apple.
Also, with the more powerful algorithm’s and chips, Apple has a new editing feature called “Bokeh and Depth Control.” Essentially, the iPhone XS can now do a bokeh feature that is just like the large DSL Cameras and lenses that cost thousands of dollars. See Apple. 

As for the picture sensor itself on the dual cameras on the back of the iPhone XS, Apple says they are “twice as fast.” See Apple. But Apple also improved the front-facing camera on the iPhone XS. Among other things, that camera now has “all-new video stabilization.”  See Apple


More Storage — 512 GB

Another reason to upgrade from the iPhone X to iPhone XS, is that the IPhone XS is the first iPhone to have storage up to 512GB storage.  The iPhone X top storage that customers could choose was 256 GB storage.  Since I use the iPhone to take so many pictures and videos of the family and also listen to music and watch movies downloaded from Netflix or Amazon Prime, having more storage is a real blessing (even if it is expensive)[2] . So having the ability to have a phone with 512GB of storage is reason enough for me to upgrade.

Better Cellular Connection Over LTE


Apple also upgraded the cellular connections in the iPhone. The IPhone XS supports faster LTE cell service, known as “Giga-Bit class” LTE.  T-Mobile announced IPhone XS supports T-Mobile’s 600 MHz service.  See MacRumors.com. Having faster and stronger cellular connection is very important to me. I am on the T-Mobile network. And where I work, all the cellular connections are very weak. The iPhone XS will support T-Mobile’s 600 MHz service. Hopefully this will improve my cellular connections.

Dual Sims, Including an eSim


The iPhone XS is also the first iPhone to support dual SIMs for cellular connections. This means you can use your iPhone with two different cellular phone numbers. Even better, one of the SIMS will be an eSIM, which means from the settings you will be able to choose cellular connections and switch whenever you want to purchase ad hoc connections. The iPads have long had eSIM cards. They are fabulous. A number of years ago, I went to Spain, and on the plane after I landed in Spain, through GigSky in my iPad settings, I purchased 5GB of data for a reasonable price to use for one month in Spain. The eSIM in the iPhone XS works in 10 countries including the U.S. (Austria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, German, Hungry, India, Spain, the UK and the U.S.)   In the US, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T support eSIM. You can use GigSKy service on the iPhone XS.  See the Verge This is a huge feature for me and others who like to travel abroad.

Better Water Resistance


IPhone XS is water resistant to a depth of 2 meters for up to 3 minutes (IP68), while iPhone X is only up to 1 meter depth for 30 minutes (IP67).  See Apple. This means your iPhone XS is less likely to be damaged by water compared to the iPhone X. It could also mean you might be able to film or take picture of underwater activity.

More Ram and L1 Cache


For those who are into more computer technology stats, the iPhone XS has more Ram and L1 Cache than the iPhone X. In terms of ram, the iPhone XS has 4GB of ram, while the iPhone X has only 3GB of ram. The iPhone XS has 4 times more L1 cache memory than the iPhone X’s L1 Cache. See AppleInsider.com. All this is better for computing power.

Helps Family Trickle Down Device Plan

Finally, upgrading to the iPhone XS will help my family’s trickle down device plan. For several years, the practice in my family is for me to purchase a new iPhone ever year, and then give me last year’s iPhone to my wife, and then my wife gives her iPhone to my oldest child and then the oldest child hands down that child’s phone to the youngest child. So when I upgrade, everyone in the family gets a newer iPhone. [3]

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