They're back, and as you might (and should) expect, they're better than ever: the 4.7" iPhone 7 and 5.5" iPhone 7 Plus. Though they don't look remarkably different on the outside, save the two new black colors and relocated antenna lines, Apple has made significant improvements in processing power, durability, display quality and cameras. Throw in iOS 10 (which is also available for several older generation iPhones), and you've got a fresh experience. The two new colors (or technically the absence of color) are matte black and jet black. The jet black model is super shiny and very pretty. It also shows fingerprints like a beer bottle in a pizza joint and scratches more easily than the other colors. It's still made of aluminum but uses a different anodization process that can show micro-abrasions. Surprisingly, it's a bit more sticky and grippy than the other finishes--usually shiny things are more rather than less slippery.
Same as it ever was?
Some critics have complained that the new iPhone looks much like the two previous generation models-- the iPhone 6 and 6s. It's true, they are the refinement of that design, and as such the antenna lines have moved to the very edges so they don't run roughshod through the back of the phone, and the camera location and hump are a little bit different. Yes, there's still a hump and Apple would have to make the phone thicker to make it flush. We know Apple likes skinny, and I'm guessing they think customers like skinny too. The antenna lines on the black models are black, so they blend in. Why doesn't Apple use matching colors for the gold, rose gold and silver phones? It's a pigment vs. radio interference issues--believe it or not, pigments can affect RF.
The essential design is on its third year, and I too have been guilty of saying "ho-hum, where's that new every two year design." We've come to expect that since Apple's been creating new designs with every non- S release. Then I thought harder on the matter, and realized that this is still a very ergonomic and attractive design... and it looks really, really good in the new black options. It doesn't look like any other smartphone on the market. Do we want change simply for the sake of change? I suppose that's not unfair since the technology inside improves in small ways as the smartphone matures, and high end phones have become fashion statements. But I also want Apple to come up with something really good, something that excites me as much as the Leica-inspired iPhone 5 design that still lives on in the iPhone SE. I've worked in R&D departments, and it's not easy to come up with something that's iconic, ergonomically excellent, durable and practical. So I won't get huffy about a design that's actually still really lovely, but that doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to the design reinvention that the iPhone 8 may bring.
On the design upside, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are water resistant and harder to bend. The display sizes and resolution remain the same, but Apple has updated their IPS panels with the higher DCI-P3 color gamut, a cinema standard that well exceeds sRGB. Reflectance is as ever very low, contrast is high, color calibration is near perfect and brightness on auto-brightness reaches 700 nits. DisplayMate, the display uber-scientific geeks rate it as the best mobile LCD they've ever tested.
Definitely not the Same as it ever was
The home button is now solid state with no moving parts. That means no satisfying hardware move and click, and it means no more worn out home button switches (that switch was the only moving part in the iPhone). The new home button looks just like the old one, but the clicks are generated via haptics, or Apple's Taptic engine, as they call it. Just as with Force Touch, tactile feedback is via haptic vibration, and when the phone is on a desk, it does feel like the button is clicking. Hold the phone in your hand and you'll feel the whole phone vibrate a bit, so it's a little less convincing. It took me an hour to grow accustomed to it, no doubt due to iPhone muscle memory (I instantly adjusted to the HTC 10's haptic home button because I had no expectations or memory of something different). After a day I and others in our office grew to like it and prefer it over the old mechanical button. It still does the familiar things--double-tap to launch Apple Pay when the screen is off. Double-tap when the screen is on to multitask. Long press to bring up Siri, and triple press to turn the camera into a handy magnifying glass.
The fingerprint scanner is even faster, if you can imagine that. It's too fast if you just want to wake the phone to see notifications and the time. Thus Apple changed the sleep screen and added raise to wake. Pick up the phone and you'll see the notification screen, which we've seen on some Android phones from Moto and the Nexus 6P. Swipe sideways and you can launch the camera without unlocking the phone, swipe in the other direction and you'll see calendar entries and news items. Nice. So taking an impromptu photo or video is as simple as picking up the iPhone and swiping the screen. Good times.
Faster than Other Phones (for Now)
Every year Apple churns out the fastest CPU, then Qualcomm or Samsung's Exynos answer with an even faster CPU for their high end models. The Snapdragon 820 was the winner a few months back, and now the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus thoroughly trounce it on benchmarks. Honestly, the silicon is now so fast, it's hard to say this even matters unless you're a fanboy of one platform or another. The Apple A10 Fusion CPU is clocked at 2.33 GHz and it's Apple's first quad core design (the Snapdragon 820 is also a quad core CPU with a similar two high power and two low power cores design). The new M10 motion coprocessor allows for features like raise to wake, as does the M9 used in the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus and iPhone SE.
The iPhone 7 has 2 gigs of DDR4 RAM and the iPhone 7 Plus has 3 gigs. RAM is managed differently in iOS vs. Android, but Android fans will likely brag that they typically get 4 gigs of RAM in their high end phones. iPhone fans will brag that Apple's memory management means you need less RAM... the truth is somewhere in between. We haven't experienced lag in the new iPhones, nor have our Safari tabs manically reloaded due to RAM constraints. The experience is good. Doubtless, even more RAM would mean even more apps could stay loaded in memory, ever ready. That said, I haven't noticed much of a difference compared to the 12.9" iPad Pro with 4 gigs of RAM.
Storage capacities have doubled, so you have 32, 128 and 256 gig options, with each increment adding the usual $100 in price. Given the huge jumps in storage between price tiers, that doesn't feel like a rip-off like moving from 16 to 64 gigs last year.
