iPhone 7 review
October 9, 2016
Although the new iPhone 7 looks a lot like last year’s counterpart, Apple devotees have been more than willing to empty their wallets for the smart phone. But, in fact, there are improvements to be found.
In terms of design, the substantial change is that the iPhone 7 is water and dust resistant. In fact, Apple designed the new phone to withstand being submerged underwater for up to one meter for 30 minutes.
The sizes of the screen for the new phones remain the same as the iPhone 6s. The iPhone 7 has a 4.7 inch display and the iPhone 7 Plus has a 5.5 inch display. The resolution also has not changed. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 6 remain the same at 1,334 x 750 pixels and their Plus counterparts stay at 1,920 x 1080 pixels.
One of most prominent changes was the iPhone 7’s home button. The new button is touch sensitive with a fingerprint reader and powered by a taptic engine.
Another big change is the removal of the headphone jack, which enables the iPhone 7 to have dual speakers, rather than a single speaker.
This will be a problem for people who listen to music while charging their phone as there is only one slot for an adapter. This means the only way to listen to music while charging the iPhone is to purchase wireless earphones or earbuds. Many critics have voiced their displeasure at this inconvenience.
The new iPhone’s camera setup has also been redesigned. The new camera has an image sensor, a 12-megapixel resolution, and an improved optical image stabilizer. An advantage of the iPhone 7 Plus is that it has a dual camera that includes a new ability to refocus an image that is blurry after it is taken.
The iPhone 7 will be powered by the A10 Fusion chipset. It will also have two-high performance cores that are 40% faster than the iPhone 6S’s A9 chip. Along with this, the A10 Fusion chipset has a new graphics processor that is 50% faster than its predecessor.
The new phone will have the longest battery life of any iPhone. When tested by Apple, the iPhone 7 lasted two more hours than the iPhone 6S and one more hour than the 6S Plus.
The iPhone 7 will also feature a new color: matte-black with an aluminum finish. This new color replaces the “space gray” color of the previous iPhone.
Apple also introduced a new operating system for its phones. iOS 10 includes many new features that are sure to impress users. One change offers the ability to read a transcript of a missed voicemail message. This new feature will be useful for those who cannot answer their phones immediately, such as a student in class.
An obvious change in the new iOS is the size of the Emojis in iMessage. When a message consists of one to three Emojis, the Emoji will appear three times larger than before.
Another change in iMessage is that users now have the ability to put stickers on their messages. The new iOS also allows users to draw sketches, draw on photos and embed animated GIF files into their messages. In fact, iMessage now functions similarly to Facebook Messenger as users can simply tap on a received message and respond with a small icon such as a thumbs-up.
iOS 10 also allows users to remove unwanted apps Apple installed. Apps such as Stocks, Weather, Maps and Notes can now be removed.
A major improvement in iOS 10 is the Maps app. The app now finds the easiest directions to go to locations, factoring in traffic conditions and delays.
Even though the iPhone 7 has many positive new features, the removal of the headphone jack is a big negative. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller on Sept. 6 at Apple’s annual press event cited “courage” as the reason for the change, which didn’t go over well with critics.
Whether or not this affects the overall sales of the phone has yet to be determined.
