Apple unveils 3 iPhones with dual SIM, impressive cameras

Apple on Wednesday unveiled its 2018 iPhone lineup, introducing the premium iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max along with the more affordable iPhone XR at an event in California.

The company also announced the Apple Watch Series 4, which comes with a larger display, improved performance and new health-monitoring capabilities.

The iPhone XS and XS Max support dual-SIM and dual-standby functionality, a feature aimed particularly at users who maintain separate personal and professional numbers.

Both premium models feature upgraded dual 12-megapixel rear cameras with 2x optical zoom and an improved True Tone quad-LED flash. They also carry a 7-megapixel front-facing RGB camera with an f/2.2 aperture.

The iPhone XR, positioned as the more affordable model in the new lineup, comes with a single 12-megapixel rear camera.

In India, the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max were announced in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB storage options. They are available in space grey, silver and a new gold finish, with starting prices of Rs 99,900 and Rs 1,09,900, respectively, through Apple-authorised resellers.

The iPhone XR starts at Rs 76,900.

The iPhone XS features a surgical-grade stainless steel frame, a new glass formulation and an edge-to-edge display. The XS and XS Max are powered by Apple's A12 Bionic processor, built using a 7-nanometre manufacturing process.

The A12 Bionic packs 6.9 billion transistors and is accompanied by a new eight-core Neural Engine designed to improve machine-learning performance. These capabilities are expected to support functions such as image processing, augmented reality and intelligent camera features.

The iPhone XS has a 5.8-inch OLED display, while the XS Max features a 6.5-inch OLED screen, the largest display ever offered on an iPhone at the time. Both models support HDR and 3D Touch.

Apple also said Face ID had been improved to work faster than on the previous-generation iPhone X.

The iPhone XR features a 6.1-inch Liquid Retina LCD display and uses an aluminium frame instead of the stainless steel construction found on the premium models. Its design allows Apple to offer a larger-screen iPhone at a lower starting price.

Alongside the iPhones, Apple introduced the Apple Watch Series 4, marking a significant redesign of its smartwatch.

The new watch features an edge-to-edge display with slimmer bezels, increasing the screen area by about 30 per cent without a corresponding major increase in overall size.

Apple has also upgraded the watch's internal hardware with a new dual-core 64-bit processor designed to deliver improved performance.

"Apple Watch isn't just the number one smartwatch, it is the number one watch in the world period," Apple CEO Tim Cook said at the launch.

Health monitoring remains a major focus of the new model. In addition to tracking heart rate, the Apple Watch Series 4 can monitor heart rhythm and alert users to possible irregularities.

The company also announced an ECG recording feature that had received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. The feature was initially planned only for users in the US, with Apple saying it was working to bring the capability to other markets.

With the new iPhone range and Apple Watch Series 4, Apple expanded its focus beyond incremental hardware upgrades, placing greater emphasis on performance, photography, connectivity and health-related features.