Say hello to the iPhone 7. Apple introduced iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus on this Wednesday 7th September, 2016 the best, most advanced iPhone ever with upgraded cameras, water resistance, stereo speakers and a longer battery life, oh and the headphone jack? Yeah, that’s gone, you’ve heard it correct.
Tim Cook took to the stage at the Bill Graham Civic in San Francisco and told us:
“We have created the world’s most advanced smartphone – the best iPhone we have ever created. This is iPhone 7.”
Obviously Apple would say that, but we’ll let you make up your own mind as you read through all the new features below, but to some people that might not make any difference much, as everyone is going to get it anyways because its Apple’s new iPhone 7.
Design
The new devices are the exact same size as their predecessors in every dimension, meaning that the iPhone 7 is 7.1mm thick and the 7 Plus is a slightly fatter 7.3mm.
Five colours are available. Alongside gold, rose gold, and silver are two shades of black – a standard black and a polished jet black that’s only available on higher spec iPhone 7 models.
There are two key differences. As expected, the iPhone 7 has no headphone jack and the home button underneath the display is no longer a physical, moving part.
No headphone jack
Apple took courage to remove the headphone jack. Regardless of what you suspect the tech giant’s motivations for doing it are, the company’s Phil Schiller pitched the change as a necessary evil.
The 3.5mm port is a very old connector and takes up a lot of space inside the device, so doubling up the Lightning Port’s duties to charging and audio output not only means more space for new features, but better quality audio overall.
From now on, you’ll be using wireless headphones or Lightning Port ready ones. Apple has bundled a pair of its white EarPods with a Lightning connector in the box. If you’ve got an expensive pair of headphones with a 3.5mm connector salvation is at hand – the company will be bundling a small Lightning to 3.5mm adaptor with every iPhone 7 as well. Just don’t lose it.
New Home Button
The home button change is less dramatic but you’ll feel its impact every time you use the phone – quite literally. It’s a non-moving part but is pressure sensitive and kitted out with the latest Force Touch technology – haptic feedback that means it’ll feel like it’s clicking, even when it isn’t.
New cameras
Both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have upgraded cameras. The iPhone 7 has a 12-megapixel wide angle camera, which Apple claims is 60% faster and 30% more energy-efficient than previous models, and has 4 LEDS in the flash. The iPhone 7 Plus has optical zoom and you can shoot in 2x zoom without losing any detail to fuzz like you would with the digital zoom you’ll find on most smartphones.
Meanwhile the front facing camera gets a bump to 7MP and, while still stuck at f/2.2, it delivers greater detail and 1080p video.
Performance and battery life
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will be powered by the new A10 Fusion chipset mated to 2GB RAM. In practical terms, Apple promises 40 per cent faster processing speeds compared to the A9 chip found in the 6S. It also promises a 50 per cent improvement for those upgrading from 2014’s iPhone 6.
Even better news is the improved battery life. Apple claims that the iPhone 7 is the longest lasting iPhone yet. Those upgrading from the iPhone 6S set will receive an extra two hours per charge with the new phone.
Waterproof design and durability
Both the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are (finally!) water- and dust-resistant (IP67), meaning you’re free to get them wet without worry. That means you’ll be able to take either of them underwater for about 30 minutes, up to 1 meter deep.
The two new devices maintain the same aluminum body and don’t look a ton different than 2015’s iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. They even share the same LCD setup with 3D Touch, sized 4.7ins on the regular phone and 5.5ins on the iPhone 7 Plus. However, Apple says it’s 25 per cent brighter and the new wide colour gamut means that tones are more vibrant.
Anything else?
The iPhone 7’s speakers are much improved – it’s a stereo setup now, with a speaker at both the top and bottom ends of the device. The sound should be louder and clearer for movies and gaming.
Price
iPhone 7 is available in 32GB, 128GB and 256GB variants, at following prices:
- 32GB – $649 (£599, AU$1,079)
- 128GB – $749 (£699, AU$1,229)
- 256GB – $849 (£799, AU$1,379)
The iPhone 7 release date is set for Friday September 16 in 28 countries including the US and UK, with iPhone 7 pre-orders already open. A week after September 16, the iPhone 7 will also be available in a further 30 countries too.
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