Everything to Know About the iPhone Xs’ New Camera Features - TIME

Everything to Know About the iPhone Xs’ New Camera Features

Posted: 12 Sep 2018 01:05 PM PDT


Apple’s new flagship smartphone, the iPhone Xs, has a handful of new camera features that mobile photographers will love — and one that might appall photography purists.

Here’s a snapshot of the most notable camera upgrades on the iPhone Xs:

Smart HDR
HDR, or “high dynamic range,” involves taking multiple photos at different exposures and blending them together to get a wider range of shadows and highlights than would normally be possible in a single photograph. Done well, it can help produce some stunning images — but when abused, the results can be downright garish.

The iPhone has long had an option for HDR photos. But Apple’s new iPhone Xs offers a new feature called “Smart HDR,” which the company says intelligently combines differently-exposed frames into a single image. The advertised result: Better photos with minimal work on the photographer’s part.
No Shutter Lag
iPhones and other smartphones have long suffered from a distinct lag between the time you hit the shutter button and the moment a photograph is actually recorded. The iPhone Xs circumvents that problem with a clever solution: Just like The Hulk is always angry, the iPhone Xs’ camera app is always shooting images — when it’s open, of course. Those images get sent to a buffer then instantly deleted — unless you tap the shutter, in which case they’re saved.

Depth-of-Field (“Bokeh”) Control
This’ll be the most controversial feature on the new iPhone among some photographers.

With traditional cameras, photographers select an aperture — how wide the shutter opens — before making an image. The wider the aperture, the thinner the plane of focus, helping photographers keep a subject pin-sharp while throwing the background out of focus to produce that pleasing “bokeh” effect. But photographers typically have to make this creative choice before hitting the shutter. Once you make an image, there’s no going back to change the aperture, and thus the depth of field, after the fact.

But with the iPhone Xs, users can change the depth of field of their images after they’re recorded. This is possible because the iPhone’s background blur is digitally created by software, not by the width of a physical shutter.

Many users will find this handy and fun to play around with (it’s also reminiscent of what camera maker Lytro was trying to do.) But photography purists may scoff at the idea that this particular creative choice is moving from before-the-fact to after-the-fact. Still, that’s true of lots of other decisions in photography. In film’s heyday, for instance, shutterbugs were pretty much locked into their choice of color or black-and-white, whereas many photographers now happily switch between the two in their editing software of choice depending on whatever looks better. So the purists will probably just have to get over it.

OLED Screen
While it’s not strictly a photography feature, the iPhone Xs’ 5.8-inch OLED screen should serve as a great viewfinder and way to view your images. That’s doubly true for the iPhone Xs Max and its 6.5-inch monster of a screen.


New iPhones and More: Here’s Everything Apple Just Announced

Posted: 12 Sep 2018 12:27 PM PDT


Apple on Wednesday introduced a trio of new iPhones and an upgraded, health-focused Apple Watch.

If you missed the big event, here’s a quick recap of Apple’s new gadgets and their most notable features.

iPhone Xs
The biggest news of the day was the iPhone Xs, Apple’s new flagship smartphone and successor to last year’s iPhone X.

Pronounced “iPhone Ten Ess,” the 5.8-inch iPhone Xs boasts a new OLED screen, Apple’s new A12 Bionic chip, and new camera software that lets users change the depth of field of their images after taking them. The new chip allows for faster processing speeds and other under-the-hood benefits.
The iPhone Xs will be available in gold, space gray and silver finishes and with 64GB, 256GB or 512GB of storage. It starts at $999; pre-orders start Friday.

iPhone Xs Max
Apple also dropped the iPhone Xs Max, the company’s biggest-yet smartphone. Unlike some of Apple’s previous larger smartphone variants, there’s not much notable about the iPhone Xs Max beyond the larger size — it’s basically an iPhone Xs embiggened to 6.5 inches. If you love watching TV or movies on your smartphone, or you’re often shooting photos or recording videos, this may be the model for you.

The iPhone Xs Max will be available in gold, space gray and silver finishes and with 64GB, 256GB or 512GB of storage. It starts at $1,099; pre-orders begin Friday.

iPhone XR
For those who don’t need the bells and whistles, there’s the iPhone XR, a pared-down 6.1-inch model with a less impressive LCD display and only a single rear-facing camera, limiting its photographic capabilities. Still, the screen is edge-to-edge and will look plenty nice to those upgrading from an older model. If you don’t care about having a top-of-the-line smartphone camera or the best display, the iPhone XR is a decent way to save some money — it even has the same A12 chip as the more expensive models.

The iPhone XR will be available in a variety of colors, including blue, yellow, red and more, and with 64GB, 128GB or 256GB of storage. It starts at $749; pre-orders begin Oct. 19.

Apple Watch Series 4
Apple’s foray into the wearable world received its first major design upgrade on Wednesday with the Apple Watch Series 4, a health-minded gadget with new perks for fitness fanatics.

Among the new Apple Watch’s standout features is its ability to record an electrocardiogram, or ECG, tracking the wearer’s heart health. That data can then be shared with medical professionals for their analysis. The Apple Watch Series 4 can also alert a user if their heart rate is low or otherwise abnormal, a sign of a potential health problem. Another new feature can detect if a user has fallen, and automatically call for help in the event the wearer is unresponsive after a fall.

The Apple Watch Series 4 ships on Sept. 14. It runs $399 and up for the standard version, and $499 and up for the model with on-board cellular connectivity.


Apple Unveils iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and Cheaper iPhone XR

Posted: 12 Sep 2018 11:42 AM PDT


Apple on Wednesday unveiled a trio of new iPhone models, ranging from two high-end designs to a more affordable entry-level device.

The two higher-end iPhone models, named the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, feature more advanced screens using what’s called OLED technology. They will be available in gold, silver and space gray finishes. The iPhone XS has a 5.8-inch display, while the iPhone XS Max has a 6.5-inch display. The iPhone XS runs on Apple’s new A12 Bionic processor, helping apps launch faster and providing other under-the-hood benefits. Both models have two rear-facing 12-megapixel cameras, one wide-angle and the other telephoto.
The new iPhone XS models will be available with up to 512GB of storage, the most ever in an iPhone.

A new photography feature will let iPhone XS uses take a photograph, then later select the amount of background blur, or “bokeh,” they want in the image.

The battery in the iPhone XS will last 30 minutes longer than that of the iPhone X, Apple marketing boss Phil Schiller said Wednesday. The XS Max will last 90 minutes longer.

The more affordable model, the iPhone XR, has an LCD display, which are often less impressive than OLED screens. Still, the iPhone XR’s screen, which Apple calls “Liquid Retina,” is also an edge-to-edge design. Instead of 3D Touch, the iPhone XR has “haptic touch,” which offers a similar feature-set without fingerprint scanning, which is replaced with FaceID as a means of unlocking the device. The iPhone XR has a single rear-facing 12-megapixel camera. It has 90 minutes more battery life than the iPhone 8, Schiller said.

Interestingly, the cheaper iPhone XR has the A12 Bionic chip, the same processor as the more expensive iPhone XS models.

All three phones are based on the design of last year’s iPhone X, Apple’s first smartphone with an edge-to-edge screen and other design improvements.

By introducing pricey iPhone XS models alongside a cheaper entry-level model, Apple may risk cannibalizing the sales of its more expensive, and therefore likely more profitable device. But the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant could also be wagering that the higher-end iPhone XS could be seen as a status symbol, and thus attract more affluent buyers.

The iPhone XS begins at $999, while the iPhone XS Max starts at $1,099. Pre-orders begin Friday and shipments start Sept. 21. The iPhone XR will be $749 and up, and begins shipping Oct. 26.


Apple’s New Health-Focused Apple Watch Can Call for Help if You Fall Down

Posted: 12 Sep 2018 10:35 AM PDT


Apple on Wednesday introduced a new health-focused Apple Watch, called the Apple Watch Series 4, with a larger display and a thinner overall body.

“Everything about it has been redesigned and reengineered,” said Apple COO Jeff Williams.

The Apple Watch Series 4 has a handful of new watch faces to take advantage of the increase in screen real estate, including one with photos of users’ contacts that can be tapped to quickly make a call. Another face is based on Apple’s Breathe app, which guides users through a deep breathing exercise.

Thanks to a new accelerometer and gyroscope, the new Apple Watch can tell if a wearer falls. Upon detecting a fall, it will ask if the user needs help. If the Apple Watch doesn’t detect any movement for one minute, it will automatically send your location to emergency responders.
Along similar health-minded lines, the Apple Watch Series 4 can tell if your heart rate drops too low, or if you have an irregular heartbeat that may suggest atrial fibrillation. The new Apple Watch also allows users to take an electrocardiogram, or ECG. A built-in app can then check the results for potential problems, as well as record the data for users to share with medical experts.

“This is the first ECG product offered over-the-counter directly to consumers,” said Williams. The new Apple Watch has clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Williams added.

Williams said the Series 4 was designed to better handle phone calls with a new speaker, microphone, and construction that lets radio waves more easily pass through the rear of the device.

The Apple Watch Series 4 has 18-hour “all-day battery life,” Williams said.

The new Apple Watch will be available in an array of stainless and aluminum options starting at $399 on Sept. 21, with pre-orders beginning Friday. An option with built-in cellular connectivity will run $499. The older Series 3 model will still be available, but at the cheaper price of $279.

The new Apple Watch may help the company capture more of the smartwatch market as we head into the typically lucrative holiday buying season. Apple has just under 20% of that market as of the second quarter, according to research firm IDC.






McDonald’s Workers Are Going on Strike Over Sexual Harassment

Posted: 12 Sep 2018 07:55 AM PDT


(NEW YORK) — Emboldened by the #MeToo movement, McDonald’s workers have voted to stage a one-day strike next week at restaurants in 10 cities in hopes of pressuring management to take stronger steps against on-the-job sexual harassment.

Organizers say it will be the first multistate strike in the U.S. specifically targeting sexual harassment.

Plans for the walkout — to start at lunchtime on Sept. 18 — have been approved in recent days by “women’s committees” formed by employees at dozens of McDonald’s restaurants across the U.S. Lead organizers include several women who filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in May alleging pervasive harassment at some of McDonald’s franchise restaurants.
The strike comes as union-backed organizations have been putting pressure on McDonald’s on several fronts for better working conditions, including $15 an hour wages — at a burger chain that employs tens of thousands of people around the country, many of them at low pay.

Organizers said the strike would target multiple restaurants — but not every local McDonald’s — in each of the 10 cities: Chicago; Durham, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Los Angeles; Miami; Milwaukee; New Orleans; Orlando, Florida; San Francisco and St. Louis.

They said they could not predict with precision how many workers would join the strike, but noted that hundreds of workers had participated in the committee meetings at which the strike was planned.

McDonald’s, in an e-mail to The Associated Press, defended its anti-harassment efforts.

“We have policies, procedures and training in place that are specifically designed to prevent sexual harassment at our company and company-owned restaurants, and we firmly believe that our franchisees share this commitment,” the company said.

The company also disclosed a new initiative that will engage outside experts to work with the company to help “evolve” those policies and procedures. Some of the experts would come from an employment law training firm and an anti-sexual violence organization.

Labor lawyer Mary Joyce Carlson, who has been collaborating with women who filed the EEOC complaints, says the company needs to back up such gestures with tougher enforcement.

“We see no evidence there’s been any change at all,” she said. “Whatever policy they have is not effective.”

Organizers of the planned walkout say strikers will be demanding that the company improve procedures for receiving and responding to harassment complaints, and require anti-harassment training for managers and employees. Another demand will be formation of a national committee to address sexual harassment, comprised of workers, representatives from corporate and franchise stores, and leaders of national women’s groups.

Carlson is an attorney for Fight for $15, a national movement seeking to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. She said McDonald’s has successfully resisted efforts to unionize its employees, and suggested that workers’ anger related to sexual harassment might fuel broader efforts to gain better working conditions.

Among the strike organizers is Tanya Harrell, 22, of New Orleans, who filed a complaint with the EEOC in May alleging that her two managers at a local McDonald’s teased her, but otherwise took no action after she told them of sustained verbal and physical harassment by a co-worker. Harrell, who makes $8.15 an hour, said she and many of her colleagues were skeptical of the company’s commitment to combating harassment.

“They want people to think they care, but they don’t care,” she said. “They could do a way more better job.”

Another organizer is Kim Lawson, 25, of Kansas City, who also filed an EEOC complaint alleging that managers responded ineffectively when she reported sexual harassment by a co-worker.

Lawson, who has a 4-year-old daughter, says she makes $9 an hour. She is heartened by strong support from other workers for the planned walkout.

“Everybody’s been brave about it,” she said. “It’s time to stand up for what we believe in.”

Thus far, the nearly year-old #MeToo movement has not triggered a strike targeting a specific U.S. company. Last March, on International Women’s Day, there were broad-based calls for women to stay away from work in several countries, notably in Western Europe.

Annelise Orleck, a history professor at Dartmouth College who has written about low-wage workers, said she knows of only one precedent in the United States to the planned McDonald’s walkout.

In 1912, she said, several hundred garment workers at a corset factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, walked off the job in a strike prompted by pervasive sexual harassment, as well as other poor working conditions. The strikers did not win all of their demands, but succeeded in winning public support and drawing attention to workplace abuses.


Here’s How to Watch Apple’s iPhone Event Live Today

Posted: 12 Sep 2018 07:09 AM PDT

Apple is hosting an event at its Cupertino, Calif. headquarters Wednesday, during which it’s likely to introduce a handful of new iPhones and, possibly, a bevy of other gadgets.

The event begins at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET. Apple is streaming it live on its website, which you can view here. Apple recently abandoned its habit of making its event livestreams viewable only on its own Safari browser, so you should be able to load that stream on alternatives like Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.

Apple is also livestreaming the iPhone event on Twitter. Keep an eye on Apple’s Twitter account for more details:

Join us September 12 at 10 a.m. PDT to watch the #AppleEvent live on Twitter. Tap ❤️ below and we’ll send you updates on event day. pic.twitter.com/i9mGHTKhvu

— Apple (@Apple) September 10, 2018

While nothing’s official until the event begins, Apple is rumored to be introducing two new high-end iPhones, the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, and a cheaper entry-level device, the iPhone XR. Apple may also unveil a new Apple Watch, a new entry-level MacBook laptop, and more.