At a glance, Apple Inc.’s new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus look a lot like the past year’s iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. But a lot has changed. However, are these changes strong enough to make you want an upgrade? Or switch to Apple from an Android phone?
Let’s see if the listed differences below convince you:
- 1. No headphone jack
The iPhone 7 does not have a headphone jack. In order to listen to music, you must use Apple’s
EarPod headphones with a Lightning Connector or the Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter that comes with the phone, which allows you to use any regular pair of headphones.
You can also shell out for Apple’s new wireless AirPods headset to keep the jack free for charging.
- 2. Increase in storage
The entry-level iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will have 32GB of storage, up from the measly 16GB base storage found on previous iPhones. On the high side, you can now get a 256GB model.
- 3. Different colors, Weighs less, Brighter screen
The resolutions also remain the same: 1,334 x 750 pixels on the small one, 1,920 x 1,080 pixels on the large one.
But the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have screens that are 25% brighter than its predecessor, and they’ll both display a wider color gamut that Apple says will allow for more detailed gaming and photos.
- 4. Stereo speakers
- 5. More durable
- 6. Faster performance
- 7. Better camera
The iPhone 7 Plus has a dual-lens rear camera that provides additional zoom and depth-of-field capability.
The 7-megapixel front-facing camera on both iPhone 7 models is also new.
- 8. Processing and Graphics
A new graphics processor in the A10 Fusion chipset is 50% faster than the A9’s GPU. And the A10 Fusion will consume two-thirds as much power as the A9, Apple said.
Altogether, the A10 Fusion chipset is the most powerful ever put into a smartphone, said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president for marketing, at Apple’s Wednesday iPhone 7 launch event. Mr. Schiller also said that the A10 Fusion chip will allow for “console level gaming on an iPhone.”
- 9. Revamped home button
- 10. Battery Life
The iPhone 7 will also have the longest battery life found in any iPhone, said Apple. Apple estimates that the iPhone 7 lasts 12 hours of LTE browsing.
The iPhone 7 bested the iPhone 6s by about two extra hours in Apple’s tests, and the iPhone 7 Plus beat the iPhone 6s Plus’ battery life by about an hour.
- 11. Pricing
Apple priced the new phones at its standard top tier: The iPhone 7 starts at $649, while the 7 Plus starts at $749. Sticking to its tradition, Apple cut $100 off the price of last year’s phones.
Preorders for each model being Friday Sept. 9, and the new iPhones start shipping Sept. 16.
