Yesterday, Apple introduced the 2019 iPhone line with three new iPhones. In the immortal words of Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel, "these go to 11." The iPhone 11 and the two sizes of the iPhone 11 Pro are better than last year's models, with the main improvements in iPhone photography and battery life. But these are incremental improvements, and it would be fair to think of them as representing the third generation of the iPhone X, introduced in 2017. Having said that, if you are still using a pre-iPhone X model, then upgrading to one of these models will be a major advance for you. Here are the main features of the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max that I think will most appeal to lawyers.
The screen
I want to begin with a feature that is only somewhat new: the screen. I mention this first because the feature that I most love in the iPhone X and iPhone XS, and I'm sure that I will continue to love with the iPhone 11 models, is the edge-to-edge screen. As I explained in my reviews of the iPhone X and iPhone XS, you can be much more productive with a larger screen on a device that doesn't take up more space. Whether you are reading emails or trying to review a document on your phone while you are out of the office, the larger and beautiful screens that Apple first introduced with the iPhone X are fantastic for lawyers.
The screen on the iPhone 11 is the same 6.1" screen that Apple used last year with the iPhone XR. It's a very good screen. The iPhone Pro models come with a 5.8" or 6.5" screen that uses a beautiful OLED display, which means that blacks are pure black and colors really pop. And this year's model is brighter than ever before and features a larger contrast ratio. Whether you are using your iPhone 11 Pro to get work done, look at photos, or watch a movie on a plane, the iPhone 11 Pro screen is going to be fantastic.
Photography
The hardware of the iPhone 11 probably won't do much more than the iPhone X or the iPhone XS in terms of making you a better, more productive lawyer. (Contrast this to the software; iOS 13, coming out later this month, will add lots of features that let you be more productive with an iPhone.) But when you use your iPhone as a camera. the iPhone 11 has lots of great new features.
First, Apple is adding a new ultra wide camera. On the iPhone 11, this means that you have two cameras on the back. The iPhone 11 Pro models now feature three cameras: ultra wide, normal, and telephoto.
The new ultra wide camera has a 120º field of view, which lets you capture even more without having to step back. The way that Apple has implemented the feature is interesting: when you are taking a normal photograph, you see on the left and right edges a preview of some of what you will see if you zoom out by switching to the ultra wide lens.
I often find myself in situations in which my iPhone cannot capture everything that I want to include in the picture, so I switch to panorama mode. That mode works well for a landscape when everything is still, but yields comical results when objects (such as people) in the panorama are moving. With the ultra wide lens, you may be able to get the picture you want without resorting to panorama mode.
In an article for Macworld, Jason Snell notes that you can even decide to take advantage of the ultra wide lens after you took a picture with the normal lens:
You can optionally set the iPhone 11—for both video and stills—to capture data from both the wide and ultra wide cameras. The iPhone retains both versions for an undetermined period of time; eventually, if you do nothing with the ultra wide version, it will get thrown away. What’s really happening here is that the iPhone is stashing away a broader view of the image or video you just took, in case you end up realizing after the fact that an important part of the scene was cropped off the edges of the frame.
To fix that issue, you do exactly what you’d expect—open the image in the Photos app and tap Edit, then select the Crop tool. You’ll discover that there’s more image beyond the crop marks! This is image data from the ultra wide camera that has been seamlessly stitched into your photo or video, and if you want to use it, you can just change the crop to reveal more information. It’s a very clever way to provide a safety net via the ultra wide camera. Once you’ve tapped that Edit button, that extra off-camera information will continue to be available for later tweaking—iOS won’t throw it away.
Second, Apple has implemented a feature previously seen on some Android phones like the Google Pixel, the ability to take a night mode picture when there is almost no light. Whether you are taking a picture at a dark restaurant or outside when it is night, night mode allows you to take pictures in environments in which you previously couldn't take a usable picture at all.
Related to this feature, if you are in a dark environment, the iPhone will show you how long your exposure will be. And if you put your iPhone on a tripod or other stable surface, you can increase the exposure time to let the iPhone suck in even more light out of the dark environment. This should allow for some really interesting long exposure photography.
Third, it is now faster than ever to switch between taking a picture and taking a video. If you are taking a picture and you hold down on the shutter button, you'll immediately start recording a video as long as you hold down the button, or you can swipe right to lock into video mode. (Holding down on the shutter button was previously used to bring up burst mode, which you can still access by holding down on the button and then swiping left.) There are so many times that I am taking a picture of my daughter playing soccer and then I want to quickly start taking a video, but I cannot do so without wasting a few seconds to switch modes. This will be a nice new feature.
Apple calls that new feature QuickTake. That name has a history at Apple; back in 1994, Apple sold a $749 digital camera called the QuickTake 100, which could take eight photos at a time at 640 x 480 resolution. After you took eight pictures, you had to download them to a computer. My law firm purchased one of those to try out this fancy new technology called digital photography. To get a sense of how far digital photography has come, here is a picture that my wife took of me using the QuickTake 100 on April 2, 1995, when I borrowed the camera from my law firm to play around with it for a weekend:
While this picture is old and grainy, I still love to play that piano as much as I can.
Fourth, if you are using an iPhone 11 Pro, a feature will be coming later this year called Deep Fusion which combines nine different images taken with the three cameras along with artificial intelligence to create a single, incredibly life-like and detailed picture, the sort of picture that traditionally would require an expert photographer using a high-end DSLR camera. [UPDATE 9/11/2019: According to John Gruber, Deep Fusion will also be available on the iPhone 11. But with only two lenses, I'm curious if the results will be as good. We'll see.]
There are other new features too, like better videos, better selfie pictures (including slow-motion video selfies and a widescreen lens to fit more people in your picture), and other tricks that advantage of combining the normal camera with the ultra wide camera, such as better portrait mode pictures on the iPhone 11 versus the iPhone XR.
Professional photographers and videographers are already using the iPhone quite a bit, and as Apple demonstrated yesterday, the results that these professionals can get with the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro cameras are phenomenal. But even if you are just taking pictures of your vacation, a birthday, or your kids, you can create some really amazing photographs with the three new iPhone 11 models.
Battery life
From my colleagues at work to my kids at home, everyone I know wants better battery life from an iPhone. The iPhone 11 gains one extra hour of battery life over the iPhone XR. Even more impressive, the iPhone 11 Pro gets four additional hours of battery life over the iPhone XS, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max gets five additional hours of battery life over the iPhone XS Max. For the pro models, that sounds like an incredibly impressive increase in battery life. I've had days when I was using my iPhone extensively (often when traveling) and by 6pm my battery is starting to run low. Having that deadline extended to 10pm or 11pm is a huge difference.
Perhaps to accommodate a larger battery, the new iPhones are slightly heavier than last year. For example, the iPhone 11 Pro is 6.63 ounces, versus the iPhone XS, which was 6.24 ounces.
When you do need to recharge your iPhone, the iPhone 11 comes with the same Apple 5W charger that Apple has included with iPhones for many years. But the iPhone 11 Pro models come with an 18W charger, allowing you to charge up to 50% in only 30 minutes. Or you can purchase a 29W or 30W USB-C adapter (or third party options like the Anker PowerPort line) to charge an iPhone even faster.
Colors
The iPhone 11 is made of aluminum and glass. It comes in six colors: purple, white, yellow, green, black, and red.
The iPhone 11 Pro is made of stainless steel and glass, with a texture matte finish on the back. It comes in four colors: space gray, silver, gold, and a brand new midnight green.
To help you see the new colors, Apple is now selling clear cases for all of the iPhone 11 models.
Ultra Wideband
The new iPhone has a new U1 chip that takes advantage of Ultra Widebrand technology so that the iPhone knows where it is located in relation to other devices with Ultra Widebrand. Apple said that you can use this feature with AirDrop, making it easier to send a file to an iPhone that is closer to yours. But then after describing that use of this feature, the Apple website teases: "And that’s just the beginning."
Given the rumors, I suspect that what Apple is hinting at is that Apple is working on a new tracking device. If you put one on your keys and you lose your keys, Ultra Wideband technology will let you use your iPhone to find the specific location in a room where your keys are hiding. Hopefully, we will see this new device later this year.
Faster
Every new iPhone is faster than the year before. This year, the iPhone 11 uses the A13 Bionic chip to do everything faster. Apple also says that Face ID is 30% faster than it was before, plus it can recognize your face from even farther away and at new angles.
Etc.
Although Apple doesn't encourage you to dunk your iPhone 11 in water, Apple does say that the new model is even more water resistant than before, with the iPhone 11 Pro even more water resistant than the iPhone 11. Also, the glass is even more durable, giving you a little more protection if you drop the iPhone 11.
The new iPhones also produce better sound, using something Apple calls spatial audio to create "a more immersive, theater‑like surround sound experience." And the new iPhones support Wi-Fi version 6, allowing you to download up to 38% faster if you are connected to a Wi-Fi router that also supports Wi-Fi 6.
Apple also removed a feature with the iPhone 11: 3D Touch. All three models now instead use Haptic Touch, which Apple used last year with the iPhone XR. The two technologies are similar; Haptic Touch works based on how long you touch the screen, whereas 3D Touch measures how much pressure you apply to the screen.
Pricing
Last year, there was a $250 price difference between the entry level iPhone XR ($749) and the entry level iPhone XS. This year, the iPhone 11 is $300 less, starting at $699 for a 64GB model. The iPhone 11 Pro starts at $999 for 64GB, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max with the larger screen starts at $1,099 for the 64GB model. You can pre-order the new models of the iPhone 11 starting this Friday, September 13.
Conclusion
If you are still using an iPhone older than the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, you are probably ready for an upgrade. If you want to limit how much you spend on an iPhone and/or if you still like the old design with a button and Touch ID, Apple is still selling the iPhone 8, starting at $449 (or $549 for the iPhone 8 Plus). But keep in mind that the iPhone 8 is already two years old. The iPhone 8 will be the right phone for many folks, but I strongly recommend that you also consider the iPhone 11. Yes, it takes a little while to get used to Face ID, but the edge-to-edge screen of the iPhone 11 along with the better camera, increased speed, and other features make the iPhone 11 a better value.
If you want the best iPhone ever, the two sizes of the iPhone 11 Pro look great. The two main improvements are photography and battery life, and those are two features that I know that I will really appreciate.
