As promised, Apple finally unveiled the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus today. Many of the rumors were true, so most of what we’re seeing won’t surprise us. There are quite a few new features though that make it a worthy upgrade over the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
Design
For the first time in a while, the iPhone has stuck to a familiar design for 3 straight years in a row. Sure, the camera housing has been redesigned and the 7s Plus even has a dual camera setup, the overall design from the iPhone 6/6s have been carried over. There’s a fancy new Space Black color variant though since the craze over gray seems to have run its course. Oh, and it’s now IP67 certified dust and water resistant!
The Hardware
The iPhone 7 and 7s retain their screens from the most previous generation, sporting a 4.7 and 5.5 inch screens, respectively. While there were rumors that Apple would be switching to Super AMOLED, they decided to stick with IPS with Ion-strengthened glass, oleophobic coating, and support for 3D Touch.
Driving the iPhone 7 is the new 64-bit quad core A10 Fusion chipset with 2 high performance cores and 2 high efficiency cores. The high performance cores are 40% faster then the iPhone 6s and twice as fast as the iPhone 6. On the other hand, the high efficiency cores are designed for lighter tasks to help prolong battery life. There’s also a new hexa-core GPU to power graphics and is said to be 50% faster than the one on the iPhone 6s.
The other noticeable differentiation between the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus aside from their screens is their camera. The smaller iPhone 7 comes with a reasonably good 12mp shooter with phase detection autofocus and a quad LED dual tone flash. On the other hand, the iPhone 7 Plus comes with a dual camera setup, with the second camera having a telephoto lens. The second camera enables seamless 2x optical zoom as well as a simulated depth of field effect that’s usually only achievable on DSLRs and mirrorless cameras.
Storage-wise, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are finally doing away with the 16GB option and are going straight to 32GB. Those who want more storage can choose from the 128GB and 256GB versions.
Probably the least surprising feature is actually a lack of one. Gone is the traditional 3.5mm headset jack. It still comes with an included pair of Earpods, but now they come with a lightning connector. You can still use an old school pair of earphones by using the included adapter. Alternatively, you can use the new AirPods, which are simply a wireless pair of Earpods.
Pricing
Naturally, there’s no local pricing yet so soon after the official announcement. However, both the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will retail at the same price that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus had originally sold for when they first came out. The iPhone 7 will start at $649 for the 32GB variant and up to $969 for the 256GB model.
