Dual cameras. Large bezels. 1080p screen. One may think this is an iPhone being described, but this is actually Chinese tech company OnePlus’s new flagship, the OnePlus 5. A modest upgrade from the 3 & 3T handsets from last year, let’s dive in and see what’s changed. First off, the design. Many outlets, including us at the beginning of the article, have said this phone strongly resembles Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus. However, the OnePlus 5 was actually modeled off it’s sister company Oppo’s R11. The phone comes in two colors, Slate Grey & Midnight Black, and sports an aluminum build. It has two cameras on the top-left of the device, one being a 16-megapixel sensor with a f/1.7 aperture (which is good), & a 20-megapixel telephoto lens. However, even though these specs seem promising, early reviews point out that the camera continues to lag behind those of Apple & Google, especially in low light situations. Turn the OnePlus 5 around and you’ll see a 16-megapixel selfie camera. Below that camera is a 1080p, 5.5–inch display, similar to that of the 3T. OnePlus has taken a lot of heat for keeping with a 1080p display, but in my experience with 1080p phones it’s hard to even tell that the resolution is low. OnePlus also removed the pee-yellow colour for night mode & introduced ‘reading mode,’ which turns the display to monochrome for books or long articles. OxygenOS, OnePlus’s Android skin, continues to be a pleasure to use. It’s near-stock, but comes with several great improvements, especially for tinkerers. It works well with the OnePlus 5's impressive spec sheet. That means the Snapdragon 825 chip, Adreno 540 GPU, and 8 gigabytes of RAM on the higher end model. It also has a 330 mAh battery, which roughly amounts to 4–5 hours of screen-on time. While the battery is pretty normal, OnePlus is again packing their phones with Dash Charge products, which can charge the phone to around 60% of battery in only 30 minutes. Finally, the price. OnePlus has always been famous for being a budget phone brand, but the OnePlus 5 is it’s most expensive phone yet. The lowest-end model costs $479, while the highest-end model goes up to $539. At these prices, it merits the question: “Why not just spend one hundred dollars more & get a Galaxy S8, iPhone 7, or Pixel?” That’s a question for another article, of course, but it still would be wise to observe the OnePlus 5 for the months to come. Roan Thibault is the editor-in-chief of Mirror Journal. Please note that this is not a review and should not be treated as such.
WWDC, or World Wide Developer’s Conference, is Apple’s yearly event in which the company announces new versions of it’s software, including iOS, macOS, & watchOS, and for the first time since 2013, new hardware. Below we’ve compiled three of the best announcements from the event. iOS 11The latest version of the iPhone’s software, iOS 11, boasts several redesigns, including that of the Control Centre. The new look for the Control Centre can appear very familiar to Windows 10 users, as it is the home to several tiles that can be expanded using 3D Touch. The Notification Centre has also been redesigned. This new Notification Centre takes the user back to the lock screen, with widgets to the left and the camera to the right like in iOS 10. The App Store has also been the subject of a major redesign. Users now enter a “Today” tab, with articles & content featuring new apps. Next is a “Games” tab that promotes in-app purchases for already-owned games, and an “Apps” tab that is largely similar. macOS & watchOSNext up, macOS High Sierra. This is more of a technical upgrade for Apple, as it brings support for the company’s Metal 2 API, which offers VR support and faster performance for things like system animations. High Sierra is also switching to a 64-bit “Apple File System,” or APFS, and H.265 video. Small updates have been thrown in, however, such as Autoplay blocking in Safari, Spotlight Search in Mail, & a new “Imports” tab that will make it’s way to the Photos app. In watchOS 4, Apple has redesigned the Dock, along with the Music & Workout apps. During the keynote, it was also mentioned that the Apple News app is making it’s way to the Watch. Finally, watchOS 4 will bring a predictive “Siri” watch face, a “Kaleidoscope” face, and three Toy Story faces. Lastly, the Activity app in watchOS 4 will soon feature a smart coach for motivation. New hardwareLast but not least are three new pieces of hardware from Apple. First up is a 10.5-inch iPad Pro refresh, with thinner bezels and a super powerful A10X Fusion processor. Headlining the new iPad are improvements in iOS 11, like Drag & Drop, a new keyboard, a new Dock, & even a new app — Files. Next; the iMac Pro. Meant to be a replacement to the 2013 trash can Mac Pro, top-specced iMac Pros will feature an 18-core Intel Xeon processor, an AMD Radeon Vera GPU, & an advanced cooling system to keep it at the same temperature as a normal iMac. It will feature an exclusive space grey design too. Finally, the rumoured Siri speaker is being rolled out as HomePod — a music focused smart speaker with seven tweeters, a 4-inch woofer, & spatial awareness. It has 6 microphones and an Apple A8 chip to run Siri. Like Google Home, Siri is awakened by a special pair of words — ”Hey Siri.” It will be able to play from Apple Music too, but not through Spotify or even Bluetooth. So why care?Apple products are important — and WWDC is when all of them get updated. iOS 11 is set to be adopted by most iPhones & iPads come Fall due to Apple’s aggressive upgrade prompts, and the same can be said for macOS High Sierra and watchOS 4. The iMac Pro is likely to stick around for the next four years, given that Apple doesn’t refresh it often, and the introduction of HomePod in December will mean all four of the major personal assistants will have their own smart speakers; Google Assistant with Home, Amazon Alexa with Echo, Microsoft Cortana with a new Harmon speaker, and now Apple’s Siri with HomePod. And the question on everyone’s mind regarding the HomePod is, “will it even be able to gain traction given it’s price tag?” The iPhones have been able to do it, but a smart speaker? The tech world is a constant battle to one-up each other, one that Apple is losing it's footing in. So will their logo be able to sway users for much longer? Roan Thibault is the editor-in-chief of Mirror Journal.
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September 2017
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