iPhone 11: a first look at Apple’s new default iPhone

I just spent some time with Apple’s new iPhone 11, the successor to the company’s popular iPhone XR. It’s arriving on September 20th priced from $699. While the iPhone 11 looks visually identical to the iPhone XR at the front, it’s the rear of the device that’s really changing this year.

Apple is adding a dual-camera system with an additional 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera that lets you pull back to a 5x field of view that lets you see more in the frame. Those cameras aren’t in a separate camera bump anymore — the rear glass of the phone now incorporates the camera modules. It’s still a camera bump, but it’s all a single piece of glass now. It’s quite striking, especially on the white model.

This camera system includes a new software interface for both of these cameras that lets you see outside the frame, so you can see the details of the photos you’re taking with the ultra-wide camera. You can also hold down the shutter button to immediately start taking a video. (Don’t despair, you can still take burst photos by sliding the shutter to the left — it’s a neat little interface idea.) The front-facing camera is also getting an upgrade, to a 12-megapixel TrueDepth wide-angle camera that supports slow-mo capture for what Apple calls “slofies.”

The camera changes are the big news this year, but you’ll also be able to pick from new color options: purple, white, green, yellow, black, and red are all available. Apple is also improving the battery life by an hour this year, thanks to the latest A13 Bionic processor inside.