5 Business-Friendly Features Of The iPhone X

Workplace-Ready

While Apple mostly pitches its new iPhones with a consumer audience in mind, many advances often find their way into business usage due to the prevalence of the device in the workforce. That may end up being nowhere more true than with the iPhone X, Apple's redesigned new iPhone model for the 10th anniversary of the smartphone. Apple's advancements in areas such as display and performance are among the iPhone X features that productivity-oriented users should appreciate, once the device comes out Nov. 3 (starting price: $999). "My goal is to be able to run my business no matter where I am, from my smartphone," said Mike Hadley, CEO of Boston-based Apple partner iCorps Technologies, who said he plans to order an iPhone X as soon as it's available. "Apple is making good strides toward doing that -- they just need to integrate better with companies like Microsoft."

In the following slides, the CRN Test Center has rounded up five business-friendly features and specs for the Apple iPhone X.

Display

The iPhone X features a 5.8-inch display – the largest display offered on an iPhone – and the device is almost entirely screen on the front, except for a space reserved for a camera and sensors at the top. The device's Super Retina Display will also use OLED technology for improved colors, contrast and energy efficiency over LCD. And, the resolution will go up to 2,436 x 1,125, a sizable increase in pixels from past iPhones. Taken together, that suggests the iPhone X display will offer an improved experience for writing emails, managing your calendar, or even editing a PowerPoint while on the go. Hadley said that the iPhone X's "full-screen glass, from a business perspective, will be very helpful with looking at PowerPoint, Excel, Skype."

"I think it's the right size [for productivity purposes]", said Michael Goldstein, president and CEO of LAN Infotech, an Apple partner based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "The display quality looks amazing."

Performance

The iPhone X is getting a major boost in horsepower over past iPhone models thanks to a next-generation processor, the A11 Bionic. The processor features six cores compared with the previous four-core A10 Fusion. Two of the cores are for high performance, offering 25 percent faster processing than the A10. The other cores are for maximizing power efficiency of certain tasks, and are 70 percent faster, Apple said. In addition, the A11 Bionic integrates the first Apple-designed GPU, which offers 30 percent faster graphics over the A10. The new processor should go a long way toward supporting better productivity on the iPhone X. "Speed is the key. The new chip should improve application performance," Goldstein said.

Authentication

Instead of fingerprint scanning, the iPhone X will use facial recognition as the main method for authentication. The Face ID technology is fast and accurate for unlocking a device, according to Apple, and will work even in less-than-ideal conditions such as near darkness. The iPhone X thus follows the use of facial recognition for authentication on two of the most business-oriented smartphones on the market -- Samsung's Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8. "Security features are high on business users' list – Face ID is a major enhancement," Goldstein said. "Now Apples adds the features that gave Samsung the edge."

Battery Life

Thanks at least in part to the use of an OLED display, which is more energy-efficient than LCD, the iPhone X should get a boost in battery life for many users compared with other iPhones. While the new iPhone 8 gets roughly the same battery life as the iPhone 7, the iPhone X offers up to two additional hours of battery life for users. For the business user who is always on the phone, that should be a very welcome improvement. With older iPhones, Hadley said, "if you're on the phone a lot and really utilizing a lot of the functions, you do end up running out of battery life at the end of the day. The iPhone X is a good step [on battery life]."

Wireless Charging

Charging up your iPhone X at the office or Starbucks should get much easier with the iPhone X -- as easy as setting your phone down. The iPhone X will offer inductive wireless charging, where the device starts re-charging as soon as it makes contact with a charging pad. For any worker whose desk is a tangle of wires -- or who can never quite remember to bring their cable along -- the option of wireless charging may be the most helpful advancement of all with the iPhone X.

"It seems like Apple is starting to catch up with Samsung on some features, such as wireless charging, the full-screen display and facial recognition," said Hadley.