True Tone technology. Is it possible to undo the Portrait Lighting effect after the photo is taken?

12 September Apple held its first-ever presentation at the Steve Jobs Theater, a new campus that consists of a huge circular building and a giant park. At the very beginning of the premiere, company CEO Tim Cook emphasized that Jobs personally designed the new Apple house, and began doing this back in 2007, four years before his death.

New smart watches Apple Watch and Apple TV set-top box

After a touching introduction, Cook and his colleagues talked about the third generation of Apple Watch smart watches and the next version of the Apple TV set-top box. The new items were received with applause, but it seemed that spectators and journalists clapped only out of politeness, because the updates were minimal. In particular, the watch received an LTE module and learned to play tracks from Apple Music, and Apple TV now supports 4K resolution. If there were virtually no questions regarding the set-top box, then Apple Watch Series 3 became one of the disappointments of the evening: fans of the company were hoping to see new design, but the watch came out again in the same case as three years ago when it was first introduced. The presentation of Watch and TV took an hour - after that Tim Cook suggested talking about the iPhone.

iPhone 8

We started with a model called the iPhone 8. It is noteworthy that for the first time in 8 years, Apple broke its own tradition: previously, in odd years, models with the letter “S” in the name were released, and now, immediately after the iPhone 7, the iPhone 8 debuted. This decision can be associated with two factors. Firstly, in the spring Samsung released quite successful flagship Galaxy S8 - perhaps Apple didn't want to be left behind. Secondly, usually iPhone S generation outwardly practically no different from its predecessor, but here it turned out slightly differently - the material of the case has completely changed.

Here are the five main features of the iPhone 8:

1. Glass body instead of metal. On such Apple's move went for the first time since 2011 - then the corporation from Cupertino presented the glass iPhone 4s, which is still considered one of the most beautiful smartphones in history. True, the 4s had a clear disadvantage - the gadget broke too easily even with small falls. Now Apple has promised that the iPhone 8 has the most durable glass on the market. We are waiting for crash tests.

2. Wireless charging has appeared. To power up your smartphone, you just need to place it on a special surface, which, in turn, is connected to an outlet. Of course, you will have to purchase this charging station yourself.

By the way, in 2012, Apple representatives assured that there is no point in Qi-chargers for smartphones, because, in fact, charging remains wired. However, over five years, Tim Cook, Phil Shiller and other top managers have revised their views. Now they are convinced that wireless chargers will appear in restaurants, cafes, airports and other public places where people often need to charge their phones. In theory, Apple's forecast may come true, and then charging for smartphones will become something familiar and commonplace (like free Wi-Fi).

3. Finally added to iPhone fast charging. Nothing is known about her yet, because she was mentioned only on one slide. Therefore, we do not know how long it will take the iPhone 8 to charge from zero to one hundred percent. One thing is for sure: it is clearly faster than now, when filling the battery with energy takes about two hours.

4. The iPhone 8 Plus's dual 12MP cameras have improved portrait mode. The background can now not only be blurred, but also darkened.

5. iPhone screens 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have a True Tone option. The temperature of the flowers will be able to adapt to the surrounding world. Most likely, users won't even notice the differences between the old and new displays.

Otherwise, the iPhone 8 differs from the iPhone 7 except in processor power - the new gadget has an A11 chip, which is 25% more productive than last year's A10.

Prices for the iPhone 8 start at $700 for the 64GB version. In Russia, as always, the rate is different: from 57 thousand rubles for a minimal modification. The iPhone 8 should go on sale in early October, and pre-orders will be available on September 29.

Predicting the future of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus is not easy. On the one hand, journalists who attended the presentation claim that the devices fit perfectly in the hand and deliver a tactile orgasm. On the other hand, there are too few changes - there is a risk that buyers will forget about the iPhone 8 because of the iPhone X.

iPhone X

In January 2017, the debut iPhone turned exactly 10 years old. Rumors that Apple would celebrate the anniversary of the revolutionary gadget with a new smartphone had been circulating for a long time, so no one was surprised when, after the iPhone 8, Tim Cook asked for applause for the iPhone X.

X is exactly 10, not “X”: so Apple once again emphasized that new model anniversary and exclusive.

However, it is more correct to perceive the iPhone X as a full-fledged mass flagship: it has narrow frames around the perimeter of the screen (a 2017 trend), a vertical dual camera(For better stabilization) and a 5.8-inch display (the largest and clearest in the history of the entire iPhone line).

Three main iPhone features X:

1. This smartphone does not have a Home key or a TouchID fingerprint scanner. In its place came the FaceID function - facial recognition. Initially, the iPhone creates a three-dimensional model of the owner’s face, and then unlocks it only if the owner looks at the front camera. It is important that the iPhone X recognizes its owner, even if he changes his hairstyle or puts on glasses. Although the twins are asked to use a password.

Pay with Apple Pay It will also be possible with FaceID. A glance at the camera - instant payment approval.

There was an incident at the FaceID presentation: after long stories about the brilliant work of this function, the demo iPhone refused to recognize the face of Apple Vice President Craig Federighi. The manager hesitated slightly, but still managed to unlock it. Journalists who were allowed to touch the iPhone X after the premiere emphasize that in real life FaceID really works flawlessly - the phone wakes up in a split second.

2. You need to understand that the iPhone X is not a completely frameless device. It has thin frames around the perimeter of the screen, and on top the display is slightly covered by a strip with a front camera and sensors. This may interfere with your work - for example, when watching videos or playing games. To make it more convenient to watch the video, you need to double-click on the screen - then the picture will be slightly smaller, a frame will appear around it, and the panel will not interfere.

3. Globally, the iPhone X is similar to the iPhone 8/8 Plus. It is also made of glass, also supports wireless and fast charging, and it also has the same processor. Bonuses are in the little things: for example, thanks to advanced front camera iPhone X comes with portrait selfie mode. The top device can also turn a person into an animated emoticon: you can say a phrase, and then it will be voiced by a pig, frog or poop emoji with the same lip movement.

Now comes the fun part.

For an iPhone X with 64 gigabytes they will ask for 999 dollars (79,990 thousand rubles), and for an iPhone X with 256 gigabytes - 1,150 dollars (91,990 thousand rubles).

The gadget itself will reach shelves only on November 3. Russia is entering the first wave of distribution, so you can already start saving money - it’s already clear that the iPhone X will be the most expensive and in-demand smartphone on our market.

This year we have seen many interesting smartphones high level, each of which found its fans. Each of them offered something different to the sophisticated user, striking in design, new way of interacting with the user, advances in camera technology, and so on. This constellation is completed by Apple, which, as always, presented its gadgets in September. This year there were three of them. The iPhone 8 Plus has undeservedly remained in the shadow of the iPhone X (ten). This year, Yabloko deviated from the standard naming scheme for its gadgets, stepping over the iPhone 7S. And this is not without reason - the number of changes is difficult to emphasize with the S-version. In particular, Apple returned to glass when making the case, abandoned the expanded color palette, added fast and wireless charging, a new A11 Bionic chipset with its own graphics chip, updated the camera, adding the ability to shoot video in 4K@60fps format. In general, assessing all aspects of this device, we come to the conclusion that this particular device can become the best smartphone top class in 2017. Why not iPhone X? Read. Well, we will provide some of the arguments in favor of this statement right now.

A year ago, the iPhone 7 Plus became a landmark in terms of compliance with modern trends - then the new product received stereo speakers, water resistance, a touch fingerprint scanner, and a dual camera. At the same time, Apple gave the market optical zoom and Portrait mode, the quality of which no one can surpass yet. The iPhone 8 Plus continued this course. You can joke about Apple innovations for a long time, and yet the American company methodically adds to its gadgets what its fans need (although it was used by competitors earlier), integrating it into its own operating principles. A good demonstration of this is wireless charging: you also need a dock, but it can also be used to charge your watch and AirPods case. Unlike the iPhone X, the iPhone 8 Plus inherited the “old” Full HD display, but borrowed iPad Pro True Tone technology, which adapts white balance to lighting conditions.

A necessary innovation for the new generation was the camera. The iPhone 8 Plus still has the same dual 12-megapixel camera module with a telephoto lens, but now it can shoot 4K video at 60 frames per second, and no one on the market has this option yet (Snapdragon 835 does not have such hardware support, not to mention MediaTek). In addition, Apple actively promoted the regime Portrait lighting, which is a logical continuation of the “portrait” itself, which will provide even more opportunities for photographic creativity. “Little things!”, you say. And yet, it is these “little things” that will be used more often than, say, Edge Sense, edge panels or an advanced DAC. Indirectly, we can mention here the A11 Bionic chipset with a neural system, which, with all due respect to the Kirin 970, will remain the leading mobile hardware at least until the release of the Snapdragon 845 in the first quarter of next year.

The only fly in the ointment will be the dimensions: the iPhone 8 Plus is indecently large in width and height for a smartphone with a 5.5” display, and the weight of 202 grams only enhances this feeling. It would be foolish to say that Apple offered something incredible in the design of the iPhone 8 Plus and to favorites like Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6/V30 are far from it. But if this is not a problem (and statistics iPhone sales 7/7 Plus around the world shows that this is true). Another nuance is the price. In the USA it is valued at $700, in Russia – 65 thousand rubles. Expensive? Certainly! However, we must keep in mind that the iPhone 8 Plus will be relevant for many more years due to a competent policy regarding software, unlike most competitors.

Apple smartphones are not only about top specs, attractive design and attention to detail. iPhone 8 and 8 Plus hide a lot of hidden possibilities, allowing you to pump the device to the maximum. Well, let's start with the fact that most users are not even aware of all the features of the hardware and software shell, which are becoming more and more every year.

Buying an original iPhone 8 cheaply from the Appliner.ru online store is only half the battle. You also need to get to know the device better in order to surprise your friends and acquaintances with features that they didn’t even know about.

Camera with a cool feature

The optics of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have made a significant leap forward compared to their predecessor. But do you know about Slow Sync Flash technology, which migrated to the phone from the field of professional cameras? This causes the shutter to fire more slowly when using flash. This results in more light reaching the lens, allowing the background behind the subject to be brightened.

What do we end up with? No sharp contrasts in the photo, softer and rich colors, natural gamma transmission and no red eyes in the dark. Try it - you will definitely like it.

QR code scanner

WITH iOS release 11, which arrived with the iPhone 8, the Camera app added its own simple way to read links and titles encoded into a complex QR code.

If previously you needed to download an additional utility from App Store, then now it’s enough to switch to the special mode and voila. Less unnecessary software means less confusion.

Screen recording? As easy as shelling pears

The Apple iPhone 8 Plus isn't just good on paper. If you often record screencasts for subsequent creation of videos on YouTube, or a personal archive, this opportunity will definitely come in handy.

Yes, for now horizontal orientation There are some bugs, but otherwise the function works great, even the sound is captivating. And no extra software.

New features for Air Pods

Branded wireless headphones Thanks to the iPhone 8, Apple has significantly expanded its functionality. And without that cool gadget, recognized as one of the best in its class in the world, has received additional features.

Each “ear” can be configured to respond to any command. Just tap the Air Pods case twice to change the track, start/stop playback, activate Siri and more. Bet you didn't know that?

Easily find closed tabs

You surf the Internet, and then accidentally swipe to delete the desired tab that you have been looking for for a long time (forum/website/online store page). Considering that Safari is not the most convenient browser, finding something in it is sometimes problematic.

But now it has become easier. Open the menu with open tabs and click on the small, inconspicuous “+” at the bottom of the screen. And here they are all closed pages, which may still be useful.

Flash as a reminder

Many people underestimate the importance of an LED flash, using it either for its intended purpose or instead of a flashlight. This tool can be “converted” into a missed event notifier, which will periodically remind you that you have received a message or someone did not get through on time.

Very convenient feature, if the smartphone has to be switched to silent mode. Go to settings to activate the “Flash Alerts” option and you will no longer have to regularly jerk your phone if you are waiting for an important message.

Quickly enter characters

The native keyboard of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus has a hidden life hack that allows you to type messages much faster. If previously, when typing symbols or numbers, you had to regularly tap on the switch, now everything has changed.

Just hold down the button and then swipe towards the same bracket or “@”. D As a result, you don't waste valuable time changing the layout from alphabetic to numeric and vice versa. And time today is a very valuable resource.

Do you want to enjoy all the benefits? Apple iPhone? Welcome to the online store Appliner.ru, where you can buy any gadget at the most attractive prices.

Augmented Reality (AR)

In fact, all AR chips have long been used in Sony smartphones, but Apple, as always, managed to make “innovation” out of old-new technology.

Shown at the presentation game The Machines. When launched, the camera opens, a flat surface nearby is scanned, onto which a virtual battlefield is projected. Robots walk around and beat each other to pieces.

I don’t even understand what’s going on in the game, but everything looks cool, of course! Literally a minute later, like a child, I was crawling on the floor with a smartphone, looking behind virtual mountains, crawling under bridges and looking at robots from all sides. The entertainment is extremely entertaining, but only for 10 minutes if you are over 16 years old.

The next application is IKEA Place (not yet available in the Russian App Store). It scans the surface of the apartment and places virtual furniture on it. You can select items from the current catalog, move furniture back and forth, twist, twirl, and so on. It sounds cool, but in practice the application is glitchy and often objects end up on the ceiling, too large for your apartment, or jumping around on their own, as if at the behest of a pike.

In general, AR is a cool and promising thing. But not now.

Oh yes! 20 minutes of playing The Machines ate up about 20 percent of my iPhone 8 Plus. One percent per minute is augmented reality, baby!

Cameras

The most important thing why people buy the plus versions is the double rear camera at 12 Megapixels. Now I’ll tell you what’s what.

Keep in mind, the main plus camera with wide-angle lens is exactly the same as in , so please go to iPhone review 8 , where I tested the new product in detail.

Here I will share a few more examples and make a brief conclusion:

Apple iPhone 8 Plus shoots great! This is absolutely one of the best camera phones on the market. Everything works simply and elegantly, according to the “point, shoot, get an excellent result” principle.

By the way, there is an HDR function in the settings. It's enabled by default, and rightly so. Here are examples:

If anything, we take all examples in original quality.

Portrait mode

The most important advantage of the Plus over its younger brother is the portrait mode. iPhone 8 Plus dual camera can blur the background, unlike single .

However, the background of the iPhone 8 Plus does not lather well. I couldn't get anything good off. Pay attention to the hair - the rough work of software algorithms is visible.

There were more successful situations, mostly not with people.

However, even here the automation does not always work and this is what happens...

And now, just to expand your horizons, here are some shots from, which can do the same thing.

I hope all the bugs will be fixed in the near future iOS updates and the new super smart processor will finally begin to evaluate the frame more intelligently.

Portrait lighting

New exclusive feature for Apple iPhone 8 Plus. It's still the same portrait, only Apple added some cool filters.

For clarity, let’s look at what the company is proud of on its official website.

Now let's look at the examples that I came up with.

After a couple of dozen frames, I understood how to shoot in order to create something more or less worthwhile.

We turn on, for example, “Stage Light”, tap on the model’s face, the smartphone focuses, but we don’t click on the final button yet, we immediately lower the exposure slider with our finger, the picture becomes darker, but the subject is still visible and only after that we can press the shutter .

However, only one frame out of ten is suitable. What can I say? No wonder Apple warned that the function is in beta testing mode.

By the way, portrait lighting does not work with subjects - the face must be in focus.

Optical zoom

I haven’t seen a smartphone yet that makes the second camera just as cool and high quality photo, as well as the main one. iPhone 8 Plus is no exception.

On the screen of the device, the frames turn out bomb. You download it to your computer and it’s immediately clear that the notorious “Optical Zoom” is just a feature, not a serious tool at all. They can only remove the ad at the entrance if they don’t want to come closer.

Regarding the second camera, only the lens aperture is known - f/2.8. This is a lot, less light hits the matrix, and the picture turns out to be of lower quality.

But optical stabilization works on both modules. This is, of course, cool. You can safely zoom in on the image while recording a video and it will not shake.

Front camera

Exactly the same as in number eight. Moreover! It is the same as in 7 and 7 Plus. It takes good pictures, there is no problem with the exposure, in the dark the face turns into mush, but the flash Retina screen Flash saves the day.

Video recording or video blogger's dream

Both new iPhones shoot amazing 4K videos.

Among the innovations, we have access to shooting at a frequency of 60 frames per second. The end result looks amazing and this iPhone characteristics 8 Plus makes it the best smartphone on the market. And period!

Even at night, the videos are of quite decent quality.

I was especially pleased with the work optical stabilization. It’s not what you expect - the picture is vibrant, it’s clear that it was taken handheld and not from a tripod. But at the same time, the “stub” eliminates the smallest hand tremors - the most important thing. In addition, there is no “jelly” when all the images distort every second, as is the case on almost all Android flagships, including the .

There were some downsides too. The flow rate in these videos is so high (109 Mbit/s) that they can only be safely played on powerful computers. For example, on my iMac 27 2011 with an SSD drive from Samsung video slows down, impossible to watch. But last year's MacBook 12 easily copes with this task.

We continue to praise Apple, fortunately there is a reason for it. Eights shoot excellent Slow Motion video: resolution 1920 x 1080, frequency 240 frames per second. Not a single smartphone can do this, and many flagships still produce pitiful 720p at 120 FPS.

A tale of glitches in iOS 11

iOS 11 is great! Finally I really like it appearance operating system. I don’t know why, but for the first time since the release of iOS 7, the new operating system looks and works like a full-fledged, complete system.

Should owners of sevens update to it? Of course yes! Those using the 6S and 6S Plus should do this too. Nothing bad will happen.

Owners of sixes, just sell your smartphones and buy yourself a seven or something on Android. For example, .

However, like any other release of Apple's operating system, it was not without glitches. This is what I managed to catch.

Skype doesn't work at all. It won’t start, it crashes, so we wait new version. If anything, the jamb assembly is 8.6.

Next, I decided to measure the volume of the speakers on both eights, and almost simultaneously the Music application closed itself. I had to restart it. If anything, the Music crashed the moment I decided to turn on airplane mode - I just didn’t want to be distracted by external notifications.

I didn’t notice any more problems and that’s a victory!

This is the first time we have such a highly optimized system right out of the gate.

Autonomy

Nothing new in terms of time battery life No. A freshly baked “apple+” works as long as the previous one. Even despite the reduced battery capacity. The new A11 Bionic chipset is built on a 10-nanometer process technology, which means it consumes less energy than its predecessor (16 nm).

If you do not use AR applications, the new product will last one day from dawn to dusk.

The huge advantage of the Plus version over it is that when you leave home, you don’t need to take it with you. portable battery. “Powerbank” for its younger brother is the first accessory to buy, after the case, of course.

Almost the main feature of the new device is support for wireless charging. Thank you, Apple, for taking the industry standard - Qi technology. Thanks to this, you can charge your iPhone using any compatible docking station, even from Samsung.

I specifically bought it in Apple Store charging from Belkin and here are the results of my measurements.

The smartphone charged from zero to one hundred percent in 3 hours and 40 minutes.

This is quite strange. After all, it took only ten minutes less to charge. And the difference in battery capacity is huge: 2675 mAh for the plus and 1821 mAh for the 8.

Moreover! From the included charger, the new plus takes 3 hours and 57 minutes to charge. It turns out that wireless charging is faster than traditional charging.

A few more facts about wireless charging. Energy is supplied in medium-thick plastic cases, and the device itself heats up just a little. Not critical at all.

Bottom line

iPhone 8 Plus is very cool and powerful smartphone. However, if you go down to earth, you can conclude the following:

“Everything is very cool, powerful, but there is no point in buying it at all.”

Let me explain. Never copes with all, literally all tasks outdated iPhone 7Plus. Yes, the predecessor shoots a little worse, but the difference is not so critical as to make you drop everything and rush headlong to the store for a new product.

If we compare the iPhone 8 Plus with its Android competitors, then at the moment he's better than most of them in almost every way. Of course, if you do not take into account the outdated and not very successful design. The hefty dimensions of the case, the wide frames - in the universe of the “green robot” they can simply be laughed at.

Last but most important is the cost.

In the USA, a smartphone costs 699 bucks for a basic 64 GB configuration (there are states where they don’t charge VAT, so don’t bother me about tax) or 40 thousand rubles. In Russia, a smartphone costs $990 or 64,990 rubles in US currency. AND buy iPhone 8 Plus we have the official price... sorry, but this borders on madness and lack of minimal respect for yourself and your money.

Okay, let's skip the question of money. In any case, you need to very clearly understand why you need the iPhone 8 Plus, if in a month the iPhone X comes out, which is in every way better than plus. Even I, a tech blogger, can’t imagine why I need an 8 Plus when I can get an iPhone ten. We think and reflect...

One of the main features of the iPhone 7 Plus is its dual camera, which allows you to shoot in . When shooting in this mode, the entire focus is on the subject, and the background is blurred (bokeh effect).

Which devices support Portrait Lighting mode?

The functionality is present only in the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X models. It is unlikely that this opportunity will appear in the iPhone 7 Plus, since the device uses the A10 processor.

Additionally, it should be noted that the Portrait Lighting mode works on both iPhone cameras X (main and frontal), while on the iPhone 8 Plus - only on the main one.

The Portrait Lighting feature uses machine learning. An infrared sensor is used for focusing, and a screen is used for illumination, which creates the necessary shade of glow.

In the application "Camera" select option "Portrait", compose your shot, and then select the desired effect using the button at the bottom of the screen and take a photo.

How many styles does Portrait Lighting mode offer?

This mode offers five styles: " Daylight"(soft natural light), " Studio light"(illuminates the subject's face), " Contour light"(allows you to manipulate highlights and shadows to highlight the details of a person's face in a portrait), " Stage light" (places the face (in color) of the model on a black background), " Stage light - mono”(works on the principle of the “Stage Light” filter, but the photo turns out to be black and white).

Can I cancel the Portrait Lighting effect after the photo is taken?

Yes, but shooting must be done in portrait mode. You won't be able to add a lighting effect if the photo was taken in standard mode. To change the effect, open the Photos app and select the photo you want to edit. To start editing, click the slider icon. Above the bottom row of editing tools, you'll see a "dial" that lets you control the Portrait Lighting effects. Spin the wheel until you find the effect you want and click the Done button in the bottom right corner.

Is portrait lighting just a filter?

As Apple's senior vice president of marketing Phil Schiller explained, "Portrait Lighting is not just filters, it is an analysis of the lighting on the model's face in real time."

Portrait lighting creates a depth map that separates the subject from background. Artificial intelligence identifies the facial features of the subject and changes the lighting, adding soft light, shadows or darkening the background.

Can I use Portrait Lighting mode when taking selfies?

Only iPhone owners X will be able to take selfies using portrait lighting mode. iPhone model The X features a TrueDepth camera system housed in a tiny module at the top of the display, which allows you to take great photos and use Face ID.

Is Portrait Lighting stable?

It is worth noting that the portrait lighting mode is still in beta testing, so the functionality may not work flawlessly. By the way, the original portrait mode in the iPhone 7 Plus was in the testing stage for 10 months.