Say Hello to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
After months of rumors and speculation, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are here. Apple has just unveiled the new models during today’s special media event in San Francisco.
Big camera changes
As expected, the physical Home button is gone and replaced with a small force-sensitive touch area much like the Force Touch trackpads on the MacBook.
The water and dust-resitant handset takes a big leap forward in the camera technology. The new TrueTone flash features four LEDs with 50 percent more light that reaches 50 percent further.
It also features a new 12 megapixel camera with optical image stabilization.
On the larger iPhone 7 Plus, users will be able to take advantage of two different cameras – a 12 megapixel telephoto and wide-angle version. It will offer optical zoom at 2x, a first for any iOS device.
An interesting Portrait mode, with the interesting bokeh feature, will be available for the iPhone 7 Plus with a software later this year.
Say goodbye to the headphone jack
As widely rumored, both new handsets won’t feature a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Along with Lightning EarPods, an adapter that plugs into that port will allow users to still listen with wired headphones.
Optionally, you can purchase the completely wireless new AirPods which will cost $159. The Apple-designed headphones offer 5 hours of playback on a single charge, and the included case can help provide 24 hours of music on the go. There are also new wireless Beats headphone models.
Both handsets will run with the A10 Fusion processor, which is quad core and sports 3.3 billion transistors. Along with better battery life, Apple also says users will notice better overall and graphics performance.
Pricing and availability
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will arrive next week on Friday, Sept. 16. Preorders will kick off this Friday, Sept. 9.
You’ll be able to purchase an iPhone 7 starting at $649 and the iPhone 7 Plus at $769. There will be three different memory options – 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB.
There will be five colors available to select from – rose gold, gold, silver, black, and jet black. You’ll only be able to snag the jet back version in a 128GB or 256GB version.
The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will be sticking around for lower prices and in 32GB and 128GB versions.
