Hands-On With Apple's New iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Hands-On With Apple's New iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus

It's officially iPhone launch day, and MacRumors videographer Matt stopped by the Palo Alto Apple Store this morning to pick up some new products to test out. After running into Apple CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams, who were also hanging around the store, Matt walked away with a Space Gray iPhone 8 and a Gold iPhone 8 Plus.

Matt went hands-on with both products to give MacRumors readers still on the fence about purchasing a chance to see them up close.


Apple's Gold iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are using a new shade of the color that's almost a meld of last year's Gold and Rose Gold shades. It's a rosier color with more red in it than past iPhone models, and it looks great paired with the glass body. The Space Gray is a darker shade that's almost similar to the Matte Black of the iPhone 7, and it too looks great with that shiny glass finish.

Because of the glass body, the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus are heavier than past iPhones, but at the same time, easier to hold, both due to small thickness increases and the grip of the glass itself.

With the new speaker enhancements, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are loud, and the True Tone display looks different, but it's not a major change over previous-generation devices.

Apple's iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are available for purchase starting today online and in Apple retail stores around the world. The iPhone 8 starts at $699, while the iPhone 8 Plus starts at $799.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 12 New Features

Friday July 24, 2026 7:26 pm PDT by
It is now late July, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are less than two months away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro...
macbook ultra

'MacBook Ultra' Coming Soon With These 12 New Features

Friday July 24, 2026 6:00 pm PDT by
Apple's first high-end MacBook redesign in five years is expected to arrive in the near future, bringing a run of firsts to the Mac. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the laptop to arrive between late 2026 and early 2027, with the later window now looking more likely owing to the global memory chip shortage. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects mass production to begin by late 2026. Apple last...
iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max Feature

'Apple Upgrade' Program Launching on Tuesday

Sunday July 26, 2026 8:20 am PDT by
In his newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that a new "Apple Upgrade" program is set to launch in the U.S. on Tuesday, July 28. Apple will stop accepting iPhone Upgrade Program sign-ups on the same day, but he said customers who are already enrolled will be able to remain in the program "for the time being." Apple is partnering with buy-now, pay-later company Klarna on the...

Top Rated Comments

115 months ago
I received my 8 plus this morning, and have been enjoying my new toy all day. To each their own!
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
115 months ago
Goddamn the X is going to be impossible to find.

No one I know preordered the 8.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dampfnudel Avatar
115 months ago
And for the rest of us, X marks the spot.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
a0me Avatar
115 months ago
I recently watched the conference thinking can they possibly be rehashing the IPhone 6 again and possibly getting excited about this old naff design at all? I was just waiting for the IPhone X.

The 8 is a total waste of space and shouldn’t even exist.
Except that iPhone 8:
+ is $300 cheaper (with the exact same internals as the more expensive model)
+ has Touch ID
+ can be used one-handed
+ doesn't have a big notch cut out of top of apps, videos and photos
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
115 months ago
I'm very similar to you. I've currently have no phone and I'm waiting for the x, if it's sold out I'll buy an eight plus until the x becomes available.
I was on the iPhone 6 for three years until about a month ago. It was sluggish and I couldn’t hear people when talking on the phone. I intended to get the 8 plus for quite a while. Last month, I killed my phone a little too early when my water bottle leaked on it. I’ve been using my 4s in the meantime. This made getting the new phone today, all the more sweeter.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ds6778 Avatar
115 months ago
Love my 8 Plus. Really looking forward to 11.1 though.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)