Last month, Apple unveiled its brand new iPhone line-up at an event in San Francisco. The next generation smartphones come with lots of outstanding features, but there are some not so great things too. While everyone is busy talking about pros only, we made a list of both Pros and Cons. Please read along to find why you should buy or not buy them.
Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus: Pros
The main strengths of the new generation iPhones lie in its camera, loudspeakers, durability, processing power and the new innovative Home button. We will analyze them in details below.
Camera
One of the most prominent enhancements in the Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus lie in its camera department. The former comes with a 12 MP six-lens camera module with f/1.8 aperture size. It sports an upgraded image sensor which is about 60 percent faster and 30 percent energy efficient than the iPhone 6S. The iPhone 7 Plus, on the other hand, is equipped with a dual lens camera module. It consists of two 12 MP shooters, one exactly same as the iPhone 7 and another a 56 mm telephoto lens.
The two lens set-up of the iPhone 7 Plus facilitates up to 2X optical zoom and 10X digital zoom. Apple brags that the dual camera can shoot DSL-R like photographs with the unmatchable depth of field. The Cupertino-based company claims that the dual lens set-up is efficiently operated by an advanced in-house developed ISP (Image Signal Processor).
A brand new Quad LED flash sits at the back of both the smartphones. The Quad LED flash promises 50 percent better illumination. The new generation iPhones will be able to capture great low light images not only because of this flash but also due to its wide camera aperture size. For the first time, Apple has added the ability to shoot RAW images in the iPhone 7 family.
Both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus can shoot 4K 2160p videos at 30 fps, slow motion Full HD 1080p videos at 120 fps and HD 720p videos at 240 fps. The new smartphones come with a 7 MP FaceTime front camera with Auto Image Stabilization which is upgraded from the 5 MP unit of the iPhone 6S series.
Stereo Loudspeakers
The Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus features in-built stereo speakers. These loudspeakers make the new generation smartphones two times louder than its predecessor. This is a boon for both the gamers and multimedia users who prefer to use their iPhones on the go. One of the speakers is positioned at the bottom of the handset and another at the earpiece.
Water Resistance
This year, Apple has released the first water resistant iPhones. The iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus officially comes with IP67 certification. This means that the smartphone can be immersed up to 1-metre depth for at least 30 minutes without any damage and is also adequately resistant from dust. You can easily use the latest iPhones during heavy rain or even in swimming pools.
A10 Fusion Processor
Apple has equipped its latest iPhone line-up with the powerful A10 Fusion SoC with M10 co-processor. The new chip is designed in-house by the Cupertino giant and been commercially manufactured by TSMC. The 64-bit quad-core processor is 40 percent more powerful than the A9 chipset found inside iPhone 6S series. The A10 consumes 50 percent less energy than the A8 in iPhone 6 in spite being two times faster. The six core GPU of the iPhone 7 family comes with three times more horsepower than that of iPhone 6. This will certainly make the new generation iPhones a powerhouse of its kind.
Force Touch Home Button
The Home Button of the iPhone 7 line-up is force touch enabled. This sports all the features of the good old Touch ID button on the top of being able to detect pressure levels. The 3D Touch Home Button comes with an innovative force feedback system. Third-party applications can take advantage of the added capabilities to provide a vast range of functions.
Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus: Cons
Now, we will discuss the cons of the iPhone 7 family. Ranging from the lack of a 3.5 mm headphone port to a practically unchanged screen, read on to know about the five top disadvantages of the latest iPhones.
No 3.5 mm Headphone Jack
This has been trending in the rumor mill for a lot of time, and we weren’t surprised when Apple confirmed it at the iPhone 7 launch event. While Apple is portraying the removal of the 3.5 mm headphone port as a futuristic step, lack of a dedicated audio port is a problem for many users. First of all, this makes all the current 3.5 mm headsets in the market obsolete. Another issue is that you will not be able to plug in a headphone while charging your iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus because of the common port. Apple has provided solutions to both of the problems. For the first one, the company has come up with a 3.5 mm to the lightning port adapter which it will pack in with every iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. To solve the second one, you, either you need to use wireless headphones or buy Apple’s Lightning Dock. The latter is sold by Apple for at least $40 and will allow you to plug in a 3.5 mm headphone and charge your iPhone 7 at the same time.
No Notable Display Improvement
The iPhone 7 series comes with very little display improvement in comparison to its predecessors. The iPhone 7 sports the same 4.7-inch 1334 x 750 pixels’ resolution IPS LCD as the previous iPhone 6S. Similarly, the iPhone 7 Plus also features an identical 5.5-inch Full HD 1080p IPS LCD panel just like the iPhone 6S Plus. The few upgrades in the iPhone 7 family consist of a 25 percent increase in screen brightness and an enhanced viewing angle. Apple also claimed to have equipped the latest panels with some kind of Wide Colour Display to result in spectacular color gamut. But all these are very minute improvements and besides today’s QHD or 2K smartphones, these displays do seem pre-historic.
No Warranty on Water Damage
Although the beefed-up durability of the new handsets is genuinely a great addition, Apple will not give any warranty for liquid damage. This is because the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are claimed to be water resistant, not water proof.
Same 2 GB RAM in iPhone 7
Apple has not increased the RAM of the iPhone 7 and kept it same as that of its predecessor, iPhone 6S. This is certainly a drawback as it makes the smartphone less future proof. The present day games and application features are graphics intensive and require more resources to run. Although the smaller iPhone did not receive any RAM upgrade, Apple has increased the RAM in the iPhone 7 Plus. The latter comes with 3 GB of RAM which is increased from the 2 GB of the iPhone 6S Plus. This makes the larger iPhone more desirable than its smaller sibling. Still, 3 GB RAM is no way a flagship standard as 4 GB RAM has become customary in modern high-end Android smartphones, with some even pushing up to 6 GB. While it is true that Apple’s ecosystem uses RAM much differently than that of Android, more RAM is always a plus point and considering the premium pricing of iPhones; it is not that the company can’t afford.
Presence of the Camera Bump
Camera Bump is the thing that irritates most smartphone users. It makes your phone unstable when kept on a flat surface with the screen facing upwards. It also makes your camera lens more prone to scratches. We all used to love the older iPhones, where the camera lens was perfectly blended with the back of the phones. In the iPhone 7 series, Apple has failed to squeeze in the camera opening completely inside the body resulting in a distinctive bulge. The camera bump exists both in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. However, many companies have adopted the same design.
Unchanged Thickness
The iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus features the same dimensions to that of their predecessors. In spite of losing the 3.5 mm headphone jack and very minimum battery upgrade, Apple is unable to reduce the thickness of the latest iPhones. The iPhone 7 is the same 7.1 mm thick as the iPhone 6S and the Plus models share the exact 7.3 mm diameter.
Storage Upgrade
From this year, Apple will stop making 16 GB iPhones. Instead, the company has doubled up the storage capacities of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus without any price premium. This is actually a plus point, but we prefer to keep it as a neutral one considering the exorbitant price of iPhones. The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus have also received storage upgrades without any additional cost. The 32 GB or the base models of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 7 are priced at $549 and $649 respectively, while the iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone 7 Plus costs $649 and $769 respectively.
