Apple’s iPhone X Unlocks Through Facial Recognition

The long-rumored iPhone X is here. The talk going into today’s Apple event centered on the price of the new, more exclusive iPhone, as rumors of a $1,000 price tag circulated for weeks. Well, now we know the iPhone X will run you $999. So what do you get for a hefty chunk of change? Well, it might be more about what you don’t get that’s of interest. Namely, you won’t find any bezels around the screen and you won’t find a Home button at the bottom. Apple did away with both. The iPhone X is all screen. It’s still water and dust resistant, just like the freshly announced iPhone 8, but it’s packed with a Super Retina display and the highest pixel density in an iPhone to date. And, to be honest, from the demo, it does look great. How do you unlock it, you may ask? FaceID. Yup, the phone recognizes your face and unlocks for you. The camera system (TrueDepth) at the top allows the phone to recognize the user and unlock only when the right person holds it up to their face. It adapts with you, whether you grow a beard or just age, and it can’t be fooled by a picture or even a well-made mask, as Apple engineers actually had incredible ones created just to test it. The facial recognition can also be used to animate emoji with your expression—which is terrifying. Like the iPhone 8, the iPhone X packs an A11 Bionic chip and supports Qi charging, which Apple finally got on board with. You can pre-order October 27, and the iPhone X will be available November 3. Of course, if this is too rich for your blood, you can still upgrade to the iPhone 8 or 8 Plus.