Today, Apple hit the stage to announce the new iPhone 7, which features a fancy new camera and a water resistant enclosure. They also made a bunch of other announcements, from a new Apple Watch to the death of the headphone jack. If you didn’t feel like wasting hours watching their press conference, here’s everything you need to know.
The iPhone 7 Is Water Resistant, Finally Ups to the Base Storage and Ships on September 16
The new iPhone 7 sports a slightly new look and comes in two new colours, a matte black and a glossy black. The new enclosure makes the iPhone 7 water and dust resistant. It also gives the iPhone 7 space for stereo speakers, one on the top and another on the bottom. The speakers include an increased dynamic range, which should help improve the sound.
Aside from the overall look, the home button gets its first major redesign too. The home button will support force-touch like gestures due to the “Taptic engine”. Apple didn’t go into much detail about what you’d do with this, so we’ll have to wait and see what the impact of a new home button will actually be.
As you’d expect, the processor in the iPhone 7 was also updated. It’s called A10 Fusion, which promises to be faster than the 6s. More importantly, it’s a four-core processor that features two low-power cores that should help improve battery life. Apple’s promising the longest battery life of any iPhone, claiming that it’s about two hours longer than the iPhone 6s.
The iPhone 7 ups the storage to 32GB, 128GB and 256GB, and the pricing remains the same as previous models, starting at $1079 for the 32GB. The iPhone 7 Plus starts at $1269 for the 32GB. Preorders start September 9.
Apple Wants to Kill the Headphone Jack
The new design comes with one massive change though. The rumours about Apple ditching the 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack are true. The iPhone 7 only has a lightning port with no headphone jack. This means new lighting-based Apple EarPods will come packed in the box alongside an adaptor so you can awkwardly use your old 1/8″ headphones. Whether other smartphone manufacturers follow suit is yet to be seen. More info here.
The iPhone’s Camera Gets a 12 Megapixel Upgrade, Includes Image Stabilisation and a Wider Colour Gamut
The camera in the iPhone 7 got a big bump. This includes optical image stabilisation, a wide f/1.8 aperture lens that lets in 50 per cent more light than the iPhone 6s, a 12MP camera and a high-speed processor that’s faster than previous versions. Apple suggests this improves low-light photos, adds a wider colour gamut and improves live photos. The front camera gets a boost to 7MP and includes the image same stabilisation as the front.
The iPhone 7 Plus adds a second camera to the mix. The second camera is a telephoto lens meant to improve zoom. That includes a 2x optical zoom and up to 10x digital zoom. The iPhone 7 Plus also gets a new depth of field shooting capability that uses both cameras alongside advanced machine learning on the camera chip itself to create a bokeh effect on portraits, though it won’t be available at launch. There’s a lot of hype behind what the iPhone 7 Plus camera can do, but we’ll have to see how it actually works in the real world after launch.
Apple AirPods Are $229 Wireless Headphones You Will Absolutely Lose, or Have to Charge Regularly
Apple announced its new wireless headphones, called Apple AirPods. These wireless headphones look a lot like Apple EarPods, but, well, without wires. They feature a five-hour battery life, accelerometers, microphones, Siri integration and are supposedly easy to connect to the iPhone 7. Whether they’re iPhone-specific or will use Bluetooth to connect remains to be seen. They will launch in October for the premium price of $229.
iOS 10 Launches Tuesday, September 13
iOS 10, which packs a ton of new features including a brand new lock screen and a bunch of little tweaks to the Messages app, will arrive next Tuesday, September 13.
The Apple Watch Series 2 Launches September 16, Adds GPS, Is Water Resistant Up to 50 Metres
The Apple Watch is getting its first hardware update, dubbed the Apple Watch Series 2. This version’s big feature is a waterproof rating that makes it possible to take your watch for a swim.
The hardware gets an update too. Now it includes a dual-core processor, a faster GPU, a new display and the feature people have been asking for since launch: Built-in GPS. This makes it so you can use it as a fitness watch without connecting it to your phone. Speaking of which, there’s also now a special version of the watch that’s a collaboration with Nike meant specifically for runners. The Apple Watch Series 2 will launch at $529 on September 16. The original Apple Watch drops to $399 and gets the same dual-core processor, but still doesn’t have the GPS inside.
Most importantly, Niantic took the stage to announce that Pokemon GO will arrive on the Apple Watch at some point before the end of the year, and will connect to your iPhone to show you when eggs hatch, Pokemon are nearby and when PokeStops are close (and let you spin them).
iWork Gets Real-Time Collaboration
iWork will roll out updates to its desktop and mobile apps that allows for real-time collaborative editing. This brings it in line features that have been in Google Docs and Microsoft Office 365 for a quite a while.
There’s a Mario Game Coming to iPhone This Spring
Finally, Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo came out on stage to announce a new Mario game, an endless runner called Super Mario Run, specifically for the iPhone. It will be released this spring, with pricing details to be announced soon, but the assurance that it will be a one-time purchase with no in-app transactions. Kotaku has details.
Comments
15 responses to “Everything Apple Announced At Its iPhone 7 Event That Actually Matters”
I don’t / have never had any wireless headphones, so I have no context to compare that to. How does it stack up to other wireless products on the market? Seems … I dunno, awfully low. You couldn’t even fly from Brisbane to Perth on that charge.
Is about the same as other similar products already on the market. They have to compromise size, weight and battery life. As they recharge when you put them back in the case I guess they figure they’ve put enough battery in.
Other than flighting, I’d guess few people have earbuds in for that length of time without a break.
Thanks! Yeah I was trying to think of times when I have earbuds in without a break and it’s pretty much just when I’m at work… In which case they’re plugged in to my PC and not my phone.
For what it’s worth, @phil is right that they are about the same as similar products (i.e., individual buds rather than connected by a wire). The only other ones I know of like that are the Samsung IconX, and that battery life is <4hours.
That said, most high-quality in-ear bluetooth headphones last 8-10hours and can be picked up for <$200. I’m guessing they would also be significantly harder to lose (since most have some sort of behind the neck cord). I’m not sure what the justification for buying the apple ones is.
there’s a few others – Bragi, Kanoa and one whose name escapes me at the moment, but has some red in its design
It does depend though – I have wireless over-ear cans that last more like 12-14 hours on a single charge, but obviously size matters and not everyone wants to look like a Cyberman.
Depending on the connectivity of the headphones, I don’t believe you can use Bluetooth on a flight anyway? For the size of these headphones, I reckon 5 hours isn’t too bad.
I was just using it as a comparison because it’s a known quantity (5.5 hours flight time.) It’s like the old comparison with MP3 players (store 100 CDs worth of music / 60 hours) – something tangible to make the analogy real.
So by the same token “you couldn’t even drive from Melbourne to Canberra on that charge” (6hr 41mins according to Google)
“Revolutionary new iPhone from 2012”
being sold at 2017 prices…
Enjoy iDiots
Apple’s new marketing ploy to have people buy a whole new generation of “air” style headphones. As mentioned in other comments, it is truly hubristic of Apple to not allow people to charge and output from the device at the same time.
They know that the cultish fans will just accept it, buy replacement Apple adapters and new “Air” style headphones. Apple will make a massive margin on this new accessories, the cultish fans will soon forget and have their pockets lightened for the privilege.
Apple will become more arrogant knowing they can push any old swill to the consumer and they will lap it up. Apple foremost a marketing business; tech comes along for the ride as an afterthought.
people can charge and output at the same time. they can output to wireless. or, if wired is that important, buy a device with better audio anyway.
moving to a more versatile better connector (even if proprietary) seems like a good thing for those that need it. And they are, after all, in business. And businesses tend to want to make money.
I’ll not be their customer, but it will be interesting to see if apple’s changes help push better/more uptake of wireless audio.
I realise they are in business. I made a point of stating I believe they are foremost a marketing business.
I have no issue with a new versatile connector. But the lack of redundancy for the universal 3.5mm jack is pure arrogance.
So if I am reading you correctly, you are suggesting that people should just throw away their current headphones and other attachments. Interesting.
Nope you read incorrectly. If potential customers are unable/unwilling to ditch current headphones and move on then they can either use the supplied adaptor or choose a handset more appropriate for their needs. Simple. No worries.
So they buy an adapter for $50 from Apple and what do they do when they need their powerbank connected while listening on along haul flight, stuck te airport, or delayed in some way.
Arrogant Apple could have left the 3.5mm jack for a generation but they decided to just screw over their customers instead.
Claims they needed to remove the jack for waterproffing but motorola hasnt had an issue with is for nearly 4 years.
Apple – the new Sony.
OSX now macOS?