Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, the iterative updates to last year's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will go on sale in India today. The latest smartphones from the company will be available from both offline as well as online retail channels starting 6PM today. Ahead of its availability, e-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon have announced discount offers.
Apple iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus: Specifications
The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus sport the same 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch Retina HD display also found on their predecessors. The new iPhones bring a True Tone display, which adjusts white balance according to the ambient lighting and also supports wide colour gamut. Both models are powered by Apple's A11 Bionic chipset with a dedicated Neural engine and embedded M11 motion coprocessor.
Apple has also improved the cameras on both models with larger and faster sensors. The iPhone 8 features 12MP rear camera with f/1.8 aperture while iPhone 8 Plus gets dual 12MP rear cameras, one with f/1.8 wide-angle lens and another f/2.8 telephoto lens. Both the models support optical image stabilisation and new quad LED true tone flash with Slow Sync that illuminates background first and foreground later.The iPhone 8 Plus in particular gets enhancements with a new Portrait Mode. Apple is introducing a new Portrait Lighting mode in beta that recreates studio lighting effect.
The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus can now record 4K videos at 24fps, 30 fps or 60fps. It supports time-lapse video with stabilisation and 1080p slow-motion videos at 240fps. Both the models retain the 7MP front camera with retina flash found on iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus continue with the design first seen on iPhone 6 series but use metal and glass construction. The use of glass back enables wireless charging for the first time of new iPhones. Both the models support Qi standard and can be charged with existing wireless chargers from Belkin, Mophie and Samsung. Apple's latest iPhones are also IP67 rated, making them water and dust resistant.
Apple iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus: Pricing
The iPhone 8 base model with 64GB storage is priced at Rs 64,000 while the 256GB storage variant will retail for Rs 77,000. The iPhone 8 Plus starts at Rs 73,000 for the 64GB model while 256GB variant is priced at Rs 86,000. To recall, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were launched at Rs 60,000 and Rs 72,000 respectively. Both the models will be available in gold, silver and space grey colour options.
Apple iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus: Where to buy and top offers
The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus is available from e-commerce platforms like Flipkart, Amazon India, Infibeam and offline retailers including Croma, Reliance Digital and Brightstar. The smartphones will also be available from authorised reseller like Redington.
Ahead of the launch, Amazon and Flipkart announced their offers for the new iPhones and Jio also announced its own buyback offer. Reliance Jio is offering 70 percent of the original price as buyback amount on return of the device after a year. The offer is available from Amazon India, MyJio app, Jio.com, Reliance Digital and Jio Store.
On purchase of new iPhones, Citibank is offering a cashback of Rs 10,000 on both Flipkart and Amazon. Flipkart customers can additionally avail an exchange discount of up to Rs 23,000 and extra discount of Rs 3,000 on return of your older iPhone. Both Amazon and Flipkart are also offering no cost EMI option for a period of 12 months.