Apple just held a special event on September 12, 2018 where they announced the new iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, and Apple Watch Series 4.
The new Apple Watch Series 4 was redesigned with the largest Apple Watch display yet. Advanced heart monitoring capabilities, such as ECG. Digital Crown with haptic feedback. And new features to help users stay active, healthy, and connected.
The iPhone XS comes in two sizes, the iPhone XS with a 5.8″ display, and a the iPhone XS Max with a 6.5″ display that is considered the largest ever on an iPhone. A12 Bionic, the smartest, most powerful chip in a smartphone. Advanced Face ID. And a a new dual-camera system with Depth Control. The iPhone XR comes with a new 6.1″ Liquid Retina LCD display, and pretty much the same other features as the iPhone XS.
One of the main things that people noticed right away is the increase in price. For the base models, The iPhone XR costs $749, iPhone XS costs $999 and iPhone XS Max cost $1099. I don’t want to get into the price increase as this can be a post by itself, but just want to point out that Apple sort of pushed this new pricing strategy in a very smart way, where they discontinued the older models, such as the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, and introduce newer and better iPhones.
And this is what I would like to shed some light on. If you were watching the keynote, you may have noticed that there was no mention of any iPhone that has a “Home” button. All the new iPhones that were introduced were all-screen phones equipped with the latest “Advanced Face ID” technology. In other words, no more “Touch ID”.
I have so many questions in regards to this. Like what does this mean for developers? Should still account for “Touch ID” when they develop their apps, if yes then for how long? Is Apple going to officially announce the discontinuation of the “Home” button and “Touch ID”. And with that, should we expect a new all-screen iPad with no “Home” button in the near future? and maybe new MacBook computers with “Face ID” instead of “Touch ID”?
“Home” button, is this a goodbye forever, or a see you later?
