North Texas Daily

The new iPhones are almost here, and they are really shiny.

But are they worth the hefty price tag?

The iPhone 8 can be bought with a one-time payment of $949 from Apple without a contract. The iPhone X, on the other hand, is considerably more expensive, and not shockingly the most expensive iPhone to date.

A one-time payment for the 256GB iPhone X will run you $1,149 – about 10 percent of a semester’s worth of tuition at UNT.

Announced on Sept. 12, the iPhone 8 and iPhone X are the latest and greatest smartphones to get consumers in a tizzy. And although they’re slick and nice to look at, we have to ask. $1,000 for a phone?

Really, Apple?

The iPhone 8 and X are guaranteed to change the market for smartphones, but what if you are better off holding onto your iPhone 7, or upgrading to a 7 if you have a model below that?

It feels like you are.

In recent years, it has become a trend among college students and millennials as a whole to buy the newest technology as it comes out. Millennials are the top users of smartphones in the United States, and a total of 43 percent of smartphone users use Apple’s iOS operating system.

The focus should be on the iPhone 8 because let’s be real–we are broke college students. If we upgrade, which most of us should not since we do not have the money to, we will most likely be looking at the cheaper option.

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 7 look almost identical from the front. Just a tenth of an inch separates the dimensions of the two phones with the 8 being slightly larger.

A new glass back on the iPhone 8 will allow for wireless charging using Apple’s new charging pad, sold separately, and a chance to crack more than the front of your phone. The design is still practically the same from the 7, as the headphone jack is still missing and TouchID is still a feature on the 8 while the X can scan your face like some kind of sci-fi movie.

The iPhone 8 does not improve its brightness and contrast from the iPhone 7, but does add a “true tone” look to colors in the display to ensure color balance in any ambient light. With Apple’s new A11 chip, the 8 is supposedly 25 percent faster than the 7.

But the iPhone 7 was already the fastest smartphone on the market, and was crazy fast. The 8’s camera boasts a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera with f/1.8 aperture and optical image stabilization plus a seven megapixel, f/2.2 camera on the front – identical to the iPhone 7.

On paper, they are practically the same, but Apple is promising upgrades.

It feels as if we have hit a plateau in smartphones. The iPhone 7 was a great installment of the iPhone. It is still the fastest phone on the market until the three new editions of the iPhone come out.

So is it really worth ponying up the money Apple wants for the 8 and the X? No. If you own an iPhone 7, stick with that. If you own an iPhone 6 or below, upgrade to an iPhone 7 or 7plus, which will drop in price soon.

But we know all over campus, the iPhone 8 and X will be popping up left and right. People have to have the latest technology, but you can save your money on this one. It is the smart move in the long run.

Trust us.

Featured illustration by Max Raign