UPDATED: Sept. 12, 2017 at 5:10 p.m. EST

Apple’s latest line of products — in particular, the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X — were announced this afternoon in the company’s new Cupertino, California, headquarters. Here are a few takeaways from the event.

The iPhone X made its long-awaited debut

Those expecting something legitimately new in Apple’s press event probably weren’t too disappointed by Apple CEO Tim Cook’s “one more thing.” The iPhone X — pronounced “iPhone Ten” — is the logical next evolution in the iPhone legend.

It’s a big step from the barebones, App Store-free original iPhone. The purpose of the iPhone in the first place was to shift mobile life away from dependence on buttons.

With the iPhone X, Apple is replacing the home button with an edge-to-edge screen that will likely set a new standard for smartphone screens.

At a $999 starting price, the iPhone X doesn’t come cheap. A lot of buyers will probably wait for prices to drop down the road before they buy into this new design.

But this is the first step in making smartphones that look like the iPhone X the new normal. Bezels are so 2007, after all.

As usual, the rumors didn’t lie

This was the first major iPhone announcement since Apple tried to lock down on internal leaks on new products. But a lot still got out.

Rumors for this particular round of iPhone announcements started back in early 2015. A lot of those predictions, like the lack of a home button and an edge-to-edge display, have proven true.

And as well as Apple protected information on iPhone design and features, we knew most of the new details before today, especially thanks to leaks from just a few days ago.

Keep at it, leakers. You’re not fake news after all.

The iPhone 8 is the iPhone for the rest of us

If you’ve followed iPhone announcements over the years, you know that the last several iPhones have featured little more than a faster processor and better camera than their predecessors. The iPhone X’s less exciting cousin, the iPhone 8, follows in that tradition.

The biggest thing for prospective buyers to consider is the price point. At a $699 entry point, the iPhone 8 release is what we’re used to by now. It’s not terribly exciting or different in any significant way from the iPhone 7, but it’s $300 less than the iPhone X.

For the average phone buyer who decides the sparklier device isn’t worth a few extra Benjamins, the iPhone 8 is here as a backup.

Brett Weiser-Schlesinger is a senior newspaper and online journalism and information management and technology dual major. He can be reached by email at bweisers@syr.edu or on Twitter at @brettws.

The story has been updated for appropriate style.

Published on September 12, 2017 at 4:51 pm