Last Wednesday, September 7th, Apple held their annual September event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco and at long last, the iPhone 7 was announced ending all the rumors and speculations. Here’s everything you need to know about the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

Waterproof Design and Durability

Both the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are (finally!) water and dust resistant (IP67). For all the non – techies out there, IP67 means that the phones can be submerged in 1 meter of water for 30 minutes. This is a very welcome feature for the iPhone community. Besides the addition of waterproofing, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus don’t look very different from the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. They still has the same uni-body design, and are made from aluminum. However a nice edition are the newly placed antenna lines. Additionally, the screens are the same resolution as the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus; for the iPhone 7, it keeps the same 1334 x 750 resolution and the 7 Plus has the same 1920 x 1080 resolution; however, the screens are 25 percent brighter and displays a wider color gamut than the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus screens.

There are two big changes though regarding the outside of the iPhone. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are available in two new colors which are Black and Jet Black. Black is exactly what it sounds like, but this color pretty much camouflages the antenna lines making them barely visible. The other new color, Jet Black, is very nice. According to Apple, “The high – gloss finish is achieved through a precision nine – step anodization and polishing process.” “Its surface is equally as hard as other anodized Apple products; however, its high shine may show fine microabrasions with use. If you are concerned about this, we suggest you use one of the many cases available to protect your iPhone,” according to the site. The usual Gold, Rose Gold, and Silver colors are available as well.

Performance

The new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are packing the all new A10 Fusion processor. The processor is a 64 – bit  quad – core processor that has two high – performance cores and two high – efficiency cores hence the name “Fusion.” Apple claims that the new processor is 40 percent faster than the A9 and 120 percent faster than the original iPhone processor. Additionally, Apple has designed a performance controller to determine which actions make use of either set of cores. For example, checking your email will most likely be powered by the high-efficiency cores, which is better for saving battery life. Battery life has also improved. Apple claims the iPhone 7 last 2 hours longer than the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 7 Plus last 1 hour longer than the iPhone 6s Plus.

There are two new cameras as well. Both iPhones now have optical image stabilization which keeps the camera level even if your hands are shaking. Both cameras are 12 megapixels and feature a new f/1.8 aperture to allow in more light during low light situations to improve the clarity of the photo. The newest and probably biggest camera change is on the iPhone 7 Plus. There are now 2 cameras on it. The first camera on it is the same as the iPhone 7, but the camera next to it is a 56mm – telephoto lens with a f/2.8 aperture. What this dual camera system allows is optical zoom where the cameras actually move opposed to digital zoom where the cameras do not move. Optical zoom can go up to 2x, but once the zoom is taken past 2x it is switched over to digital zoom that can go up to 10x.

The Big Reveal

And now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The new iPhones DO NOT have a headphone jack. Yes this is very disconcerting for many people, however, it was time to advance technology. The port was nearly 100 years old and Apple has done this time after time. First, they removed the Floppy Disc from their computers, then the CD drive, and now, the headphone jack. And like before, everyone was upset, but other companies followed suit and we got better technology. Apple describes their decision to do this as “courage” and I completely agree with that. I personally like this decision because it allows a better audio experience with and without headphones. Since the headphone jack is removed, Apple added a second speaker which  allows for stereo sound.                  

Availability

The iPhone 7 and 7 plus are available for pre-order now, and the devices will roll out on September 16. Apple also rolled out iOS 10 September 13. The iPhone 7 starts at $649 and the iPhone 7 Plus starts at $769 and consumers can choose from 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB for storage.