Apple launched two new iPhone models  — iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max — at the annual Apple Event in Cupertino. The company claims iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max are the most advanced iPhones ever, which take the “vision for the future of the smartphone to a new level”.

The 5.8-inch iPhone Xs and 6.5-inch iPhone Xs Max with a gold finish come with Super Retina displays, faster and improved dual camera system offering “breakthrough photo and video features”, faster Face ID, and wider stereo sound.

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It will be for the first time that a smartphone will come with a 7-nanometer chip — the A12 Bionic chip with next-generation Neural Engine. Dual SIM comes to iPhones with Xs and Xs Max.

iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max will be available for pre-order from Friday, September 14, and hit the stores on Friday, September 21.

In India, the phones will be available from September 28.

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“iPhone Xs is packed with next-generation technologies and is a huge step forward for the future of the smartphone. Everything is state of the art including the industry-first 7-nanometer A12 Bionic chip with 8-core Neural Engine, faster Face ID and an advanced dual camera system that shoots Portrait mode photos with Smart HDR and dynamic depth of field,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

iPhone Xs Max battery offers to last an hour and a half more than other versions.

Schiller said: “iPhone Xs is not one, but two new iPhone models, and iPhone Xs Max offers the biggest display ever in an iPhone with the biggest battery ever in an iPhone, delivering up to an hour and a half more battery life in your day.”

iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max detailed features

Two all-screen designs: Built on the all-screen design of iPhone X model, iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max feature highest pixel density of any Apple device. The 5.8-inch iPhone Xs and 6.5-inch iPhone Xs Max, with Super Retina displays come packed with a custom OLED design support Dolby Vision and HDR10, and have iOS system-wide colour management.

Surgical grade stainless steel band, and wider stereo playback are two attractive features. The front and back glass design comes with improved scratch resistance. Apple claims the glass back enables faster wireless charging.

Both iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max are waterproof, with IP68 level of splash and water resistance for up to 2 meters for 30 minutes — also protected against coffee, tea or soda spills.

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A12 Bionic and Next-Generation Neural Engine: The A12 Bionic, which Apple calls the smartest and most powerful chip in a smartphone, features the first 7-nanometer chip ever in a smartphone. It delivers industry-leading performance in a more power-efficient design, claims the company.

A12 Bionic features a six-core fusion architecture with faster and more efficient performance and and efficiency cores. It comes with a fast storage controller that can deliver up to 512 GB storage. All this aims to bring new experiences for games, photography, video editing and graphics-intensive apps.

iPhone Xs promises to offer 30 minutes longer battery life than iPhone X, while iPhone Xs Max offers an hour and a half longer battery than iPhone X, between charges.

“The next-generation Neural Engine is built for advanced machine learning in everything from photography to augmented reality. A new eight-core design allows it to complete up to 5 trillion operations per second compared to 600 billion in A11 Bionic,” Apple said in a statement.

12MP Dual Camera System: iPhone Xs will have capabilities like advanced depth segmentation using the Neural Engine, Smart HDR creating photos with high dynamic range and great image detail, advanced bokeh quality in Portrait mode photos and dynamic depth of field that is user adjustable in the Photos app.

The new 12MP dual camera system comes with 2x optical zoom and dual optical image stabilisation offering 2x optical zoom. The new sensor is twice as fast.

Advanced technologies: One of the most important features of iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max is a faster Face ID. “The TrueDepth camera system uses precision depth-sensing technology that goes far beyond the capabilities and security of two-dimensional facial scanners and enables users to unlock iPhone, use Apple Pay, gain access to secure apps and many more features with a simple glance,” says the company.

iOS 12: iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max come with iOS 12, which introduces new AR experiences. iOS 12 will help communications more fun with new Animoji and Memoji. Another feature, Screen Time, helps customers understand and take control of the time they spend on iOS devices. New privacy features promise to help protect users from being tracked on the web.

iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max price and availability

iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max will be available in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB models in space gray, silver and a new gold finish. The pricing starts at $999 (US) and $1,099, respectively, and the phones can be bought from apple.com, Apple Store app and Apple Stores. The phones will also be available with authorised resellers and select carriers, though prices may vary.

Apple runs an iPhone Upgrade Program, through which customers in the US can get iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max at apple.com and Apple Stores with monthly payments starting at $49.91 and $54.08, respectively. Pre-orders can be placed on the Apple Store app until 4.30 am India time on September 14.

In more than 30 countries and territories, customers can pre-order iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max from Friday, September 14, with availability beginning Friday, September 21. These countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UAE, UK, US and US Virgin Islands.

In more than 25 countries and territories, iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max will be available from Friday, September 28. These countries are Andorra, Armenia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, India, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia and South Africa.