iPhone 8 FAQ: Everything You Need to Know

Earlier this month, Apple unveiled their flagship smartphone line-up for this calendar year at the Steve Jobs Theater. This time around, the Cupertino-based company introduced three new iPhones, which is a first, and we couldn’t be more excited about it. Customers can now choose between the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and even the bezel-less iPhone X depending on their personal preferences and budget. However, there’s a lot of confusion surrounding the differences between these three new iPhones in terms of hardware and software. So, if you’re planning to shell out your hard-earned cash to purchase one of them, you should make sure you’re free from these confusions, and gain enough knowledge about everything that these smartphones pack. That’s why, we thoroughly researched to find the most frequently asked questions by consumers and will answer them in this article. In this article, we’ll be completely focusing on the iPhone 8, which is the smallest of the lot.

iPhone 8 FAQ: Everything You Need to Know

iPhone 8 FAQ: General

• How much does the iPhone 8 cost?

The new iPhone 8 can be purchased for a price tag starting at $699 for the factory unlocked version that can be used with any carrier. However, if you’re a part of Apple’s iPhone upgrade program that was launched last year, you could get your hands on the iPhone 8 for as low as $34.50/month. The pricing that we’ve mentioned here is for the United States. If you happen to live in any other region, prices will vary depending on your region.

• What are the available storage options?

The iPhone is available for purchase in 64 GB and 256 GB variants. Unlike the previous iPhones, which had 32 GB and 128 GB storage options, these options are no longer available.

• Is the iPhone 8 costlier than the iPhone 7?

The starting price of the iPhone 7 when it launched was $649 which is 50 bucks cheaper than the new iPhone 8. However, it’s worth noting that you’re getting twice the storage for that additional price.

• When can I buy the iPhone 8?

If you’re living in the United States, you’ll be pleased to know that the new iPhone 8 has been shipping since October 22nd. You could very well visit an Apple retail store or purchase it from the official online store, and it will be shipped immediately. The launch timeline is quite similar for most of the major markets across the globe with some exceptions. Here in India, the new iPhone 8 will start shipping on the 29th of September.

• Can i buy the carrier unlocked version in the US?

Although the new iPhone 8 is available for purchase from major US carriers like AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon on a contract, it can also be purchased sim-free for a price tag starting at $699.

iPhone 8 FAQ: Design and Build

• What is the iPhone 8 made out of?

The new iPhone 8 sports a 7000-series aluminium frame and a glass back that makes it a premium-built smartphone. The switch to a glass back design is to support the new wireless charging technology.

• Does the iPhone 8 have a bezel-less display?

No, the bezel-less screen is exclusive to the new iPhone X. The iPhone 8 follows the same front design with the huge chin and forehead as the iPhone 6, iPhone 6S, and iPhone 7.

• Is there a home button?

Yes, just like the previous iPhone models, the iPhone 8 has a dedicated home button. It’s the new iPhone X which sacrificed the home button for a bezel-less display.

• What are the available color options?

The iPhone 8 is available in three different colors, namely Space Grey, Silver and Blush Gold.

• Is the iPhone 8 waterproof?

The iPhone has an IP67 rating, which essentially means that it can be submerged in water up to a depth of 1 meter for about 30 minutes. Although the new iPhone 8 is technically not waterproof, you can consider it to be water-resistant as you can accidentally drop it in the swimming pool and still get away with it.

• Is the iPhone 8 thicker?

The iPhone 8 is 7.3 mm thick, which makes it 0.2 mm thicker than its predecessor, the iPhone 7 (7.1 mm).

• Is the iPhone 8 heavier?

The iPhone 8 weighs 148 grams, which makes it heavier than the older iPhone 7 which weighed 138 grams.

iPhone 8 FAQ: Hardware

• What are the tech specs of the iPhone 8?

• How powerful is the Apple A11 Bionic chip?

The new A11 Bionic chip found in the new iPhone 8 is 25% faster than the A10 Fusion, which powered the older-gen iPhones. In comparison to other Android smartphones, the A11 Bionic chip manages to crush the performance of every single smartphone on the market right now, as discovered from Geekbench results. The A11 Bionic is the first 6-core processor offered by Apple. It has 4 efficiency cores and two performance cores with neural engine and embedded M11 motion co-processor.

• Does it have stereo speakers?

Apple introduced stereo speakers alongside the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The same speakers can be found on the new iPhone 8 as well, however now the newer speakers can get upto 25% louder, giving you an even better listening experience.

• Does it have Apple’s new Face ID?

No, Apple’s Face ID technology is a feature that’s totally exclusive to the iPhone X, due to its lack of a physical home button and therefore, lack of Touch ID support. However, since the iPhone 8 has a home button, you’ll be able to take full advantage of the super-fast Touch ID fingerprint scanner.

iPhone 8 FAQ: Cameras

• Is there any improvement in the camera department?

Yes, Apple has been gradually but steadily improving the camera on their iPhones in the recent years, and this year is no exception. The iPhone 8 camera was given a score of 92 by DxOMark which is higher than what the Google Pixel received, and significantly better than iPhone 7’s score of 85.

• Has video recording improved?

Yes, video recording has been improved by a significant margin. In fact, the iPhone 8 is capable of shooting 4K footage at a buttery smooth 60 fps, which is a first for any smartphone.

• Does it have Portrait Mode?

Unlike the iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus and the upcoming iPhone X, the iPhone 8 does not support portrait mode which is primarily due to the lack of a dual-camera setup. Therefore, don’t expect bokeh effects with your iPhone 8’s camera.

• Does it have Optical Image Stabilization?

Yes, the iPhone 8 has optical image stabilization in its primary camera, just like its predecessor.

• Does it have Portrait Mode for the front-facing camera?

This is a feature that’s exclusive to the new iPhone X, due to the presence of a True Depth camera used for Face ID. The iPhone 8 doesn’t have this camera and therefore, it lacks portrait mode.

• Is there a flash for the front-facing camera?

No, there’s no flash for the selfie camera on the iPhone 8 on a hardware-level. However, it does have a software-based flash feature, which is termed as “Retina flash” by Apple. This essentially turns the whole display into a giant flash.

iPhone 8 FAQ: Battery and Charging

• Has the battery life improved?

  Not really, because the iPhone 8 packs a slightly lower 1821 mAh battery compared to its predecessor which sported a 1960 mAh battery. However due to iOS 11 optimizations and the A11 Bionic chip, you can expect a similar battery life.

• Does it support wireless charging?

Yes, the iPhone 8 has a new glass-back design for a reason, and that’s for bringing the wireless charging functionality.

• Which wireless charging does it support?

Apple’s new iPhone 8 doesn’t use any proprietary wireless charging standard. Instead, it makes use of the widely used Qi wireless charging standard, which is a good news for many.

• How fast is wireless charging?

When wireless charging was initially introduced for smartphones, it was significantly slower than wired charging. However, times have changed and the gap is much narrower, but the charging rate is still slower than the traditional wired charging.

• Do I need to purchase additional hardware for wireless charging?

Yes, you’ll have to purchase a wireless charging pad for an extra cost, in order to charge the new iPhone 8 wirelessly. Since it makes use of the Qi wireless standard, you could get charging pads at different price points. Well, you can take a look at some of the best wireless charging pads that we’d like to recommend for the iPhone 8.

• Does it have fast charging support?

Yes, the new iPhone 8 supports fast charging and it’s capable of charging your iPhone from 0 to 50% in 30 minutes. However, you’ll need to purchase the 29W USB-C power adapter and a USB-C to lightning cable to take advantage of this.

iPhone 8 FAQ: Display

• What’s the resolution of the display panel?

The iPhone 8 has a display resolution of 1334 x 750 pixels with a pixel density of 326 ppi.

• Does it have an OLED display?

No, the OLED panel is exclusive to the premium iPhone X. The iPhone 8 sports the same IPS LCD panel as its predecessor.

• What is “True Tone” display technology?

This is a new display technology that was initially introduced with the iPad Pro. It makes use of the iPhone’s built-in sensors to determine the ambient lighting condition and from there on, it calibrates the color temperature of the display to provide the user with a far more natural and accurate viewing experience.

• Does the display support Apple’s “ProMotion”?

This is yet another feature that was introduced on the iPad Pro earlier this year. This is just Apple’s way of calling their displays with 120 Hz refresh rates. Unfortunately, the new iPhone 8 doesn’t have ProMotion support.

iPhone 8 FAQ: Software

• Which IOS version will the iPhone 8 ship with?

The iPhone 8 will ship with the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, which is iOS 11. It has a slew of nifty new features to offer, like the revamped Control Center, new space-saving image format, smart-invert dark mode, etc.

• Does it support Augmented Reality?

Yes, thanks to A11 Bionic chip and Apple’s ARkit platform, users will be able to take full advantage of Augmented Reality apps using the iPhone 8’s camera.

• Is additional hardware required for Augmented Reality?

No, the iPhone 8 on its own provides everything you’ll need to take advantage of Apple’s new Augmented Reality feature.

• Does the iPhone 8 have the new dock?

No, Apple’s latest flagship smartphone does not feature the new dock, as it’s exclusive to the company’s iPad lineup.

• Will it get future iOS updates for the next few years?

Unlike Android, Apple has a stellar record for providing continuous software updates across their iOS device lineup in the long run, and the new Apple flagship should be no exception on the regard. If previous records are to be gone by, users can be assured of future software updates for the next 3 to 4 years.

iPhone 8 FAQ: Connectivity

• Will the iPhone 8 Support LTE-A Carrier Aggregation in the U.S.?

Yes, as long as the carrier also supports it, users will be able to fully experience faster mobile data on the new iPhone 8.

• Will it support Reliance Jio’s VoLTE services in India?

Reliance Jio makes use of 1800 MHz, 850 MHz and 2300 MHz frequency bands for their LTE network across India, which are all supported by the new iPhone 8. Therefore, users will be able to take advantage of the company’s VoLTE services.

• Does it support dual-SIM cards?

Unlike several other flagship Android smartphones, the iPhone 8 does not support dual-SIM cards.

• Does it support Bluetooth 5.0?

Yes, the iPhone 8 supports both Bluetooth 5.0 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE, where LE stands for Low Energy.

• Does it have a microSD slot?

iPhones have always been critiqued for the lack of an expandable microSD card slot, and the new iPhone 8 is no exception in this regard. However, the internal storage space will be sufficient and fast enough for the most of us.

• Is USB-OTG Supported?

Yes, the iPhone does come with USB-OTG support, but it only supports limited devices like the Transcend JetDrive and SanDisk iXpand flash drives, which can be used to significantly increase the device’s storage space.

• Does the iPhone 8 use Lightning or USB-C port?

Just like the previous iPhones, Apple’s latest flagship smartphone sports a proprietary Lightning port rather than a universal USB-C port.

SEE MORE: iPhone X FAQ: Everything You Need To Know

All You Need to Know About The iPhone 8

If you were planning to get your hands on the new iPhone 8, we’re glad that we could help you out with our detailed FAQ to let you know everything that you need to, about Apple’s latest flagship smartphone. Although, there are not much changes in terms of cosmetics, the new iPhone 8 has a lot to offer in terms of sheer performance and features like Augmented Reality, fast charging, wireless charging, etc. The improved camera that’s capable of shooting 4K video at 60 fps is also one of the standout features of this smartphone. So, have we managed to answer every question that you guys probably had on your mind regarding the iPhone 8 or did we forget to mention any? Do let us know your valuable opinions, by dropping a few words in the comments section down below.