Read this before you buy iPhone X and iPhone 8

Why you might want to buy the iPhone 8

• The iPhone 8 is the first iPhone to support wireless charging. Apple changed up the iPhone’s looks a bit this year with a glass back instead of just making the whole thing aluminum. So you’ll be able to plop the iPhone 8 down onto anyQi-compactible wireless charger and it’ll start juicing up. Many of the places where you’d find wireless chargers (like Starbucks and inside some newer cars) already support the same Qi technology as the iPhone, so it’ll just work.
• It has the same powerful A11 Bionic processor as the iPhone X. That sounds like something from a Mission: Impossible movie, but all you really need to know is that it’s the fastest chip that Apple has ever put in an iPhone — and the iPhone 7 already felt plenty fast. This new chip is also optimized for all the cool augmented reality tricks that you might’ve seen demos of. Soon, those will make their way to actual apps and games in the App Store. All recent iPhones can do AR, but Apple claims the 8 and X have been “optimized” for it.
• You get the same primary camera as what’s in both the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. The 12-megapixel f/1.8 camera has a “larger and faster” sensor than the iPhone 7, says Apple, so if all you care about is having one good camera, this should be excellent. It’s got optical image stabilization and can record 4K video at 24, 30, or 60FPS — just like the other new phones.
• The display supports Apple’s True Tone feature, which adjusts the screen’s appearance and color temperature so that it always looks pleasant and less blue / harsh to your eyes in a variety of lighting environments.
• Unlike the iPhone 8 Plus, the regular iPhone 8 is still relatively easy to use in one hand. The iPhone X should be too, but it’s also hundreds of dollars more expensive.
• iPhone 7 cases still fit on it.

Why you might not:

• It’s only got the one rear camera, so you lose out on Apple’s Portrait mode and the new Portrait Lighting feature, which can change the lighting of a subject’s face in your shot.
• The 4.7-inch screen is smaller and lower-res (1334x750) than the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. If you like things to look big on your screen and get lost in YouTube videos or your Instagram feed, the iPhone 8’s display might not be ideal.
• It has the smallest battery of the three new iPhones. Apple has promised users will experience “about the same” battery life as the iPhone 7, so you might find yourself buying a battery case.

The iPhone 8 costs $699 for the 64GB model or $849 for 256GB.
It comes in black, silver, or gold.

Why you might want to buy the iPhone X:

• Visually, it’s Apple’s most impressive and futuristic iPhone design ever thanks to the 5.8-inch edge-to-edge OLED screen on the front and its stainless steel frame.
• It’s a big screen in a small overall form factor. The iPhone X measures a bit bigger than the iPhone 8, but it’s nowhere near the dimensions of the iPhone 8 Plus. It should be fairly comfortable to use in one hand. And in that hand is pretty much all display.
• The OLED screen has better contrast than the displays on iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, and it supports HDR video.
• You can unlock your phone with your face. If you like being the first to try Apple’s latest technology, Face ID is the biggest adjustment that iPhone users will have to make in years.
• Animoji and Portrait mode on the selfie camera. All of the sensors that make Face ID possible are also used for Animoji, which are moving emoji that mimic your facial expressions, and allow you to take portrait shots with blurred backgrounds (and Portrait Lighting) using the front-facing camera. Other iPhones can’t do that.
• The telephoto portrait lens on the iPhone X’s dual-camera has a better aperture than the iPhone 8 Plus. (f/2.4 vs. f/2.8).
• Both rear cameras have optical image stabilization, which should allow you to use the telephoto lens in darker conditions. On the iPhone 8 Plus, only the primary camera does.

Why you might not:

• It’s the most expensive iPhone ever.
• There’s no home button or Touch ID. Unlocking your phone requires looking directly at it. Every time. Unless you want to go old school with the passcode.
• Apple’s gestures for going back to the home screen and multitasking look somewhat awkward in early examples and demonstrations. At the most basic level, they’re definitely not as simple as just hitting a button with your thumb.
• The notch that houses the front-facing camera and other sensors. It’s just kind of thereall the time, and Apple is embracing that. That should be perfectly fine in apps, but the notch is likely to obscure content from time to time. We’ve already seen that it sticks out into videos if you play them full-screen in landscape orientation. Are you the kind of person who can ignore that? I’m not sure I am.
• AppleCare+ is more expensive than for previous iPhones.

• It doesn’t come out until November.

The iPhone X costs $999 for the 64GB model or $1,149 for 256GB.
It comes in black or silver.