by Irad Mustafa
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have finally arrived.
So is it a letdown? Yes and no.
It’s rather disappointing that Apple has made virtually no changes to the external outlook of its iPhones for the third year in a row, meaning they look virtually identical to both the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Yes, this does make them look rather outdated compared to design changes we have seen from Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and Galaxy Note 7.
Other changes have been made where some are significant while others are very controversial.
Size
Both phones have the exact same size as their predecessors, no surprises there.
Screen
They’ve also stuck to the same screen resolutions.
Batteries
The iPhone 7 has a smaller battery than the iPhone 7 Plus, but overall they’ve been beefed up compared to the previous phones. The official stats aren’t available yet but it has been revealed that the iPhone 7 gets two more hours of battery life than the iPhone 6s, while the iPhone 7 Plus gets an hour compared to the 6 Plus.
Processing Power
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus utilize Apple’s most powerful processor ever — the A10 Fusion. The 64-bit quad-core processor is touted to be 40% faster than the A9 used in the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. Graphics performance has also received a boost as it is also 40% more powerful than the A9.
No headphone Jack
Both new iPhones utilize stereo speakers, both at the top and bottom of the phone, which apparently “increase dynamic range.” However, those speakers are exactly where the headphone jack used to be.
The controversy stems from Apple’s decision to remove the customary 3.5mm headphone jack from both new phones. This means you’ll have to rely on a Lightning converter for your current headphones, or upgrade to a pair of Apple’s new wireless AirPods.
Main Camera
The iPhone 7 has a single-lens upgraded camera. The 12-megapixel camera officially features optical image stabilization, a 28mm wide-angle lens with a f/1.8 aperture, and a high-speed sensor that’s 60% faster than before with 30% higher energy efficiency.
However, the star of the show is the iPhone 7 Plus’ dual camera. It uses the same camera as the iPhone 7, but there’s another 12-megapixel camera next to it which is a 56mm-telephoto lens with an f/2.8 aperture enabling 2x optical zoom and far greater depth of field.
Price and Storage
The iPhone 7 starts at $649 with the 32GB version meaning there’s no longer a 16GB storage option. There are also 128GB, and 256GB version. The new jet black color will only have 128GB and 256GB internal storage options. The iPhone 7 Plus starts at $769 and also has the same storage options.
Water-Resistant
The new iPhones are also water-resistant with an IPX67 rating which means the hardware can withstand being submerged under 1 metre of water for 30 minutes.
Compared | iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
| Feature | iPhone 7 | iPhone 7 Plus |
| Display | 4.7” | 5.5” |
| Resolution | 1334 x 750 | 1920 x 1080 |
| Front Camera | 12MP camera | 12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras |
| Rear Camera | 7MP camera | 7MP camera |
| Processor | A10 64 bit | A10 64 bit |
| Battery Life | 2 hours longer battery life than iPhone 6s | 1 hour longer battery life than iPhone 6s Plus |
| Storage | 32GB, 128GB or 256GB | 32GB, 128GB or 256GB |