Apple iPhone 7 and Plus 7
Welcome the new iPhone 7, which just
became official and there are lot of changes, some subtle, some major ones.
The iPhone 7 looks almost the same as
its predecessor, but with few key changes. The main among them is the new place
of the antenna bands. They are now on the top and bottom edges on the back.
Subjectively, this makes the iPhone 7 look a bit cleaner.
Apple has two black offerings - Jet
Black and just Black, as well as Gold, Silver and Rose gold. The iPhone 7
weighs 138 grams (5 grams lighter than the iPhone 6s) and measures 138.3 mm x
67.1 mm x 7.1 mm - the same as the predecessor.
Camera
The dual camera setup on the back
combines two sensors to work as 2x optical zoom similar to the solution offered
by LG with its G5 and V20.
The new cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus are
one "wide" angle 28mm and a "telephoto" 56mm unit. Both
have 12 MP sensors and the camera can combine the two perspectives to achieve a
shallow depth of field effect. The iPhone 7 Plus does this by building a depth
map and isolating the background from the subjects - and what's cooler is that
you can see the depth of field effect in real time before you take an image.
This isn't anything new - we've seen it from Nokia, HTC, Google and other
makers.
The new 12 MP snapper is 60% faster and
30% more efficient. Like its predecessor the camera has optical image
stabilization. The lens is a new 6-element lens with a quad-LED flash to aid in
low light. The 28mm camera has an f/1.8 aperture while the 58mm telephoto
camera has a rather slow f/2.8 opening. The FaceTime selfie camera has received
a two megapixel bump up to 7 MP.
Hardware
With number 7 Apple has introduced a
new, polished design which Apple has machined to make the glass and aluminum
feel like one seamless piece of hardware. The camera hump has been carved
straight from the block of aluminum and there's a new stainless steel Apple
logo on the back. The antenna lines have become more discreet now and are less
visible.
The Apple iPhone 7 Plus comes with a
brand new Jet Black variant with a mirror-like glossy finish. But in case
you're a fan of the old anodized finish you get a new Black color variant to go
along with the Gold, Silver and Rose Gold color options.
Apple has finally ditched the classic
mechanical home button. Following in the steps of the Macbook trackpad and the
displays on the Apple Watch (1 and series 2) and the iPhone 6s the home button
is now a 3D Touch button. Apple has included a new, more sensitive Haptic
Engine underneath the button to give you physical feedback when using the
button. With the Haptic Engine the iPhone 7 Plus will now have more sensitive
vibrations throughout the OS.
One of the most dialogue-provoking
rumors is now a reality - the new iPhone 7 Plus comes without a 3.5 mm headphone
jack but Apple has you covered with lightning EarPods and a 3.5 mm to lightning
adapter in the retail box. There are no Bluetooth AirPods as standard, though -
you'll need to pay a US$ 160 premium for those.
The Apple iPhone 7 Plus also brings
stereo speakers. One speaker is at its usual downward-facing position while
another one is hidden under the earpiece. Apple promises the new iPhones will
be twice as loud as the previous ones.
The iPhone 7 Plus also isn't afraid of
water with a rating of IP67 so you can dip it in water up to 1 meter deep and
don't have to worry about dust.
Performance
The Apple iPhone 7 Plus comes with a new
A10 Fusion chipset with a quad-core processor and 3.3 billion transistors (if
you care about that stuff). Two of its cores are high-performance for tough
hauls and the other two are battery-saving for idle time.
The graphics processor inside the A10
Fusion is 50% faster than the one inside the A9 in the Apple 6S Plus.
Battery
Apple claims the iPhone 7 Plus lasts
about 1 hour per day more than its predecessor. Apple's preliminary figures
taut 60 hours of wireless audio and some 13 hours of LTE browsing.
You can preorder the iPhone 7 Plus from
September 9, starting at US$ 769 with a new base storage of 32 GB, while 128 GB and
256 GB are the roomier options (the shiny Jet Black version only comes in 128 GB
and 256 GB). Availability starts on September 16.
If you have been living under a rock,
you wouldn’t know that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were just announced at
Apple’s main event in San Fransisco. Among the slew of things announced today
like the Apple AirPods, Apple Watch Series 2, and the various App and Game
cameos, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus made their grand entrances.
The iPhone
models will start with 32 GB of storage. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will be
available in 128 GB and 256 GB versions as well. Also note, the Jet Black version
of the Phone will NOT be available in 32 GB, you’ll have to buy the 2nd or 3rd tier
of storage to get that shiny new paintjob.
iPhone 7 starts at US$ 649 and the iPhone 7
Plus will start at US$ 769, that’s US$ 20 higher than the previous Plus models have
started with. Also, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus are both getting US$ 100 knocked
down to US$ 549 and US$ 649, respectively. And their size configurations are being
doubled to 32GB and 128 GB for future models. Finally, the iPhone SE’s price
stays the same at US$ 399.
Preorders will start on September 9th
and they will start to ship on September 16th for the following countries. One
week later starting on September 23rd, the iPhone will begin shipping to 30
more countries.
The iPhone upgrade program which lets
you upgrade your iPhone every year is also now coming to the UK and China.
