The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the eleventh generation of the iPhone. The iPhone 8 was released on September 22, 2017, succeeding the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus respectively and preceding the iPhone XR.
Except for the addition of a glass back, the designs of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are largely similar to that of their predecessors. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus were the final models of the flagship iPhone model to feature the Home Button and Touch ID. Notable changes include the removal of the rose gold and jet black color variants, addition of inductive charging, a faster processor, and improved cameras and displays. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus share most of their internal hardware with the iPhone X.
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus were discontinued as of February 2020, having sold 86.3 million units worldwide, making them one of the best-selling smartphones of all time.They initially shipped with iOS 11 and supported up to iOS 16, and do not support iOS 17.
The second and third generations of the entry level iPhone SE retain the iPhone 8's exterior dimensions and Touch ID, with upgraded hardware.
History
Apple invited the press to a media event at the Steve Jobs Theater in the Apple Park campus on September 12, 2017. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus were announced at that event, and released on September 22, 2017.
On April 9, 2018, Apple introduced an iPhone 8 with a red color finish and a black front, in support of their partnership with Product Red and their AIDS fundraising campaign.
In March 2020, Apple started selling refurbished iPhone 8 Plus models starting at $469. The price was subsequently lowered to US$359. In May 2020, Apple started selling iPhone 8 models starting at $339. The price was also subsequently lowered to US$319.
On April 15, 2020, Apple announced the second-generation iPhone SE and discontinued the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which share the external form factor but has upgraded internals including an A13 Bionic processor. On March 8, 2022, Apple announced the third-generation iPhone SE with the same exterior dimensions, but with an upgraded camera and Apple's A15 processor.
Specifications
Hardware
Display
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus retain the Retina HD Display found in the iPhone 7, but they now feature True Tone technology, allowing for automatic screen adjustments based on surrounding ambient lighting. They can play HDR10 and Dolby Vision content despite not having an HDR-ready display, done by down-converting the HDR content to fit the display while still having some enhancements to dynamic range, contrast, and wide color gamut compared to standard content.
Camera
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus feature a 12 MP camera with autofocus, f/1.8 aperture and optical image stabilization capable of capturing 4K video at 24, 30, or 60 frames per second, or 1080p video at 30, 60, 120 or 240 frames per second, and a Quad LED True Tone Flash with Slow Sync. The Slow Sync flash, 4K 60fps, and 1080p 240 fps options are new features for the 8 and 8 Plus, over the options available on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
The iPhone 8 Plus, like the iPhone 7 Plus, adds a second, telephoto, lens. A new AI-driven option is available for the iPhone 8 Plus, called Portrait Lighting--making use of the more capable image signal processor in the A11 SoC.
Both models have a 7 MP front camera with an f/2.2 aperture capable of capturing 1080p video at 30 frames per second and 720p video at 24 frames per second, along with face detection and high-dynamic range.
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus record videos with single channel audio (mono).
Still photos with 6.5 megapixels (3412×1920) can be captured during video recording.
Chipset
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus contain the Apple A11 Bionic system-on-chip, a hexa-core processor that the company says features two performance cores that are 25% faster than those found in the iPhone 7's A10 processor and four efficiency cores that are 70% faster than those in the prior model. The phones also feature an Apple-designed graphics processing unit 30% faster than prior units, with the same level of performance as the A10 at half the power.