Apple has just unveiled the new iPhone 7. Many of the features of the new device had already been leaked in the previous weeks, so if you are an Apple fanboy you should already know almost everything about the device.
The new iPhone 7 will be water resistant, just like the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, and will also be released in a black version.
“It’s the best iPhone we’ve ever made,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook. “It has a beautiful new design and does all the things you do every day so much better.”
The iPhone 7 features an improved design that includes a new finish called “Jet Black” rather than Piano Black as rumored. There’s also a second black version that Cook mentioned in the presentation “we’re just calling it… black.” The iPhone 7 will also be available in silver, gold, and rose gold.
The device features a new redesigned Home Button that is much more responsive since it uses a new generation of taptic that is more responsive with real-time response. The new taptic offers discreet notifications for quick actions, messages, ringtones and more.
The new iPhone 7 case is water and dust resistant, meeting the IP67 rating. That means you can even shower with your iPhone.
The new iPhone 7 comes with all-new cameras. The 4.7-inch version comes with optical image stabilization for up to 3x better exposure, a larger f/1.8 aperture that lets 50 percent more light into the sensor, a 6P lens, and a new 12MP sensor that's 60 percent faster.
The flash has four LEDs and offers 50% more light. It also has a sensor that compensates for artificial light. The FaceTime camera has been upgraded to 7MP and features better color capture and auto image stabilization.
Apple also announced a dual-camera system for the iPhone 7 Plus. It has two 12MP cameras, one wide-angle and one telephoto for better quality. The company says that this way it was able to create a zoom lens for the phone. It works exactly like before, but there is a new button called “1x” that allows you to zoom in 2x and use the telephoto lens directly. You can zoom digitally up to 10x, and Apple says that the quality of the photo will not change. Optical zoom is supported up to 2x.
The display is Retina HD and has been improved to be 25% brighter. It has a wide color gamut. It supports the 3D Touch layer, which is used more in iOS 10.
The iPhone 7 is also stereo for the first time. With one speaker on the bottom and the other on the top, it will have twice the loudness.
The EarPods are definitely the most controversial change, as the headphone jack is gone. The Lightning connector is there to serve multiple purposes on the iPhone 7.
“We proved we can use Lightning, which is a great connector that also does audio. Second, and this is really important, is that our smartphones are coming with the latest technology and that's why we need more space inside. Third, when you have a vision of what sound should be in mobile devices, you try to get there as quickly as possible.”
So the new device also features new wireless headphones that Apple calls AirPods. They use a new W1 chip specifically designed for a “reliable connection” and infrared sensors that detect when the AirPods are in your ear and play music when needed. The sensors allow you to launch Siri with a tap. Each AirPod has a battery that provides up to 5 hours of battery life, as Apple claims.
iPhone 7 is the fastest smartphone on the market. It has a next-generation chip called A10 Fusion, with a quad-core CPU with 3.3 billion transistors. It has 2 high-performance cores that are 40% faster than the A9 and two high-efficiency cores for longer life. They work with a performance controller that selects which cores should be used by each process.
There's a six-core graphics chip that's 50 percent faster than the A9 and uses only 2/3 the power of the A9, so it's incredibly efficient. The A10 fusion is the most powerful chip ever released in a smartphone, according to Apple.
Apple says the new device will have at least 2 hours more battery life than the iPhone 6S.
The iPhone 7 will cost the same as the 6s it replaces, with prices starting at $649. There will be three storage options, 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB. Jet Black only comes in the latter two. The Plus starts at $749.
