CALIFORNIA, USA – Apple unveiled 3 new iPhone models on Monday, including a top-of-line handset described as “the biggest leap forward” since the original iPhone 10 years ago.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook announced the premium iPhone X – pronounced 10 – as well as a new iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.

Cook, speaking at the first event at the new campus theater named for the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, said the latest flagship handset is a milestone for the company a decade after the first iPhone release.

“Ten years later it is only fitting that we are here in this place, on this day to reveal a product that will set the path for technology for the next decade,” Cook said, calling the iPhone X “the biggest leap forward since the original iPhone.”

The iPhone X has an edge-to-edge screen and uses facial recognition to unlock the device, and improved “super retina” display with improved graphics and resolution.

The X will be available in the US on November 3 for $999, and will start rolling out in other regions thereafter. It has wireless charging – a first for iPhones – and has an “animoji” feature, which lets users send animated versions of their face and expressions via iMessage. 

It has 12MP dual cameras that are equipped with dual optical image stabilization, and a portrait lighting feature that lets you adjust the light on a portrait using several different presets. 

FaceID, which replaces TouchID as a phone lock-unlock mechanism, is said to be 20 times more secure than TouchID. 

The phone uses the new A11 Bionic chip, and does away with the home button. To access the home screen, users now have to swipe from bottom to top. Other functions are also swipe-enabled. 

As for the screen, the X is equipped with a 5.8-inch OLED display called the “Super Retina Display” which packs a resolution of 2436 x 1125 pixels. It has a pixel density of 458 pixels-per-inch, the highest ever in an iPhone. It also supports HDR and Dolby Vision, and has a 1,000,000 to 1 contrast ratio. 

The phone is made of glass on both the front and the back, and is water and dustproof “to a molecular level,” said Phil Schiller, vice president of worldwide marketing. Officially, it has an IP67 rating. 

iPhone 8 and 8 Plus

Schiller also said the similarly glass-bodied iPhone 8 and 8 Plus handsets were the first smartphones “really created for augmented reality,” with improved power and graphics over their predecessors.

The phones also come with the A11 Bionic chip, support wireless charging, and also have an IP67 water and dustproof rating. The 8 has a 4.7-inch display while the 8 Plus is bigger at 5.5 inches. Like the X, it now also has a True Tone display, which corrects screen color according to ambient light.

It’s 25% louder than the iPhone 7, and has all new stereo speakers.

The 8 has a single 12MP camera while the Plus has a dual-camera setup: a wide lens at f1.8 and a tele at f2.8. The aforementioned portrait lighting feature appears on the 8 Plus but not on the standard 8.

The 8 will retail starting at $699 while the Plus will go for $799. Both will arrive on September 22 in the US and then start to roll out in other regions. 

The X, the 8 and the 8 Plus will be available in 64GB and 256GB variations but Apple has yet to announce specific pricing for each.  

Apple also unveiled an updated smartwatch and an upgraded streaming video system for 4K high-definition television. The company also announced that iOS 11 will start to roll out to compatible devices on September 19.

– with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com