photo courtesy of Apple
Many know that the massive company Apple, produce their well-known products like the MacBook, Apple Watch, iPad and more. There is, however, one in particular that is widely praised and has a mass following, the iPhone.

Apple releases the new iPhone to the public on a yearly basis and are very successful. This year however is no exception. The iPhone 8 hit store shelves on September 22, 2017 and fans are ecstatic to get their hands on the new phone.

One of the big changes about the phone is it now has wireless charging. Instead of having to plug in the phone into a cord every night, the user only has to lay the phone on top of the charging pad and it will instantly start charging. This is a pleasant change for the iPhone 8 because there is no more worrying of the cord’s wiring breaking or even to work. Another big addition is the glass cover for the back of the phone, making the phone feel more comfortable to hold in the user’s hand. The glass gives the phone a sleek design, while still looking very similar to previous iPhones in the past.

The iPhone 8 uses a 12 MP camera with a 5X digital zoom, taking clean and sharp images with great quality. A wonderful addition to the camera is that it has a f/1.8 aperture, allowing more light to be trapped inside the camera to take better pictures in lower lighting settings. Senior Claire Taylor was impressed how well the camera takes photos whenever she uses the phone.

“The phone takes great quality photos, like when I take pictures of outside scenery or friends,” Taylor said. “I just love the camera and what it is able to do.”

The phone now supports 4K for the camera at 20, 30 and 60 frames per second. This is the highest video capture for any iPhone ever. With this power, Apple created augmented reality games that user may download and play.

“These games on the phone are very cool and addicting to play,” Taylor said. “Like there are these fun puzzles to solve with cubes or to interact with a virtual objects like animals, it’s a fun way to pass time.”

These are games that use the camera and virtually display an environment of some sort while using the real world as its canvas. For example, the user points their camera at a table, a virtual island will pop up and the user may interact with it using their phone.
With all of these improvements there are however a few downfalls to the iPhone 8. One of the downfalls is the removal of the headphone jack. This has caused many to not be able to use their own headphones, but having to only use Apple’s headphones instead. Luckily they are included with the iPhone 8. The phone only has one port so it requires an adapter when wanting to charge with a cord or to plug anything else into it. Allison Ratliff

“I do not like this change because I had to buy an adapter which did not come with my phone,” Ratliff said. “Plus I cannot use my aux cord when I want to listen to music.”

Some customers say that the price for the phone is too high as of right now. At U.S. Cellular, it is $650 for 64GB and $700 for the 256GB. This is still too expensive for some consumers that want to get their hands on the device. Plus, Apple has to compete with other phone companies that have similar features like the iPhone 8. Also, in the beginning of November, there has been a glitch that has affected many users that have the iOS 11 update. The glitch happens when you type a lowercase “i,” the phone will auto correct it and will put the letter “A” and add a question mark in a box, (A[?]). Luckily, Apple is working on an update to solve this matter.

The iPhone 8 makes a wonderful addition to the iPhone family and is so far one of the more powerful phones in recent years. Although it has its fair shares of minor problems, I strongly recommend the phone for all users of Apple, but I would wait until there is a price drop and the glitches fixed. Otherwise, I love how the phone operates, its design and the feel of it. I cannot wait to see what they have to unveil next for the world.