Apple iPhone 7 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

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iPhone 7 packed with new features
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After months of rumors, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are here in the flesh! Apple announced both today at its launch event in San Francisco.

Here are the most important things you need to know:

• Size and feel: The iPhone 7 feels pretty much the same as the iPhone 6S, with the same 4.7-inch screen. Apple says the “HD Retina display” is 25 percent brighter than last year’s model. It includes the pressure-sensitive 3D Touch layer that buzzes slightly when you press and hold the screen.

• Static home button: The home button is now solid state, which means you can’t physically press or click it in — kind of like the Motorola Moto Z and OnePlus 3. It’s pressure-sensitive, including “taptic feedback”, which just means that apps can give you three levels of pressure and haptic feedback, like a light or strong buzz. It doesn’t feel like a button and definitely takes getting used to, but so far it seems to get the job done.

Apple iPhone 7 has everything but the headphone…
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• Water-resistant: Yes, Virginia, it will be water-resistant (IP67), like several Samsung and Sony phones (IP68). Cannonballlll!

• No headphone jack: It’s gone. Really. Instead, Apple’s new EarPods headphones will connect through the Lightning connector port; you’ll also get an adaptor in the box. Apple’s also pushing new, funky-looking AirPods headset connects wirelessly through auto-pairing. These worked pretty well, actually, and sounded pretty good in a the loud demo room.

• New camera: The iPhone 7 keeps the 12-megapixel camera, but adds a larger aperture and — this is a big deal — optical image stabilization that keeps images steadier. We do notice that the camera sticks out more from the back. (The iPhone 7 Plus gets a second, 56mm telephoto lens on the back that works like a built-in zoom feature. Phones like the LG V20, Huawei P9 and Huawei Honor 8 have two cameras, too.) We have lots more detail below.

That home button doesn’t click in.

James Martin/CNET

• New front-facing camera: The iPhone 7’s 7-megapixel front-facing camera leaps up from 5 megapixels on the iPhone 6S, and includes auto-image stabilization (but not optical image stabilization).

• Stereo speakers: A second speaker joins the iPhone to give you stereo speakers. There’s now one at the bottom and one at the top (this is brand-new for Apple).

• Longer battery life: Greater battery capacity for longer battery life. Apple estimates 12 hours of LTE browsing (the iPhone 7 Plus should clock about two more hours). Apple notoriously never tells us what the capacity is.

• Faster processor: The iPhone 7’s new A10 Fusion chip is a 64-bit, quad-core processor that Apple says is 40 percent faster than last year’s A9 processor. Two cores are high-performance, the other two are “high efficiency,” which means they’ll conserve battery while handling tasks. Take-away message: deeper visual graphics, especially with gaming. (Did we mention that Super Mario is coming to the iPhone?!?!)

• More storage!: 32GB, 128GB, 256GB capacities

• Colors: Glossy jet black, matte black, gold, silver, rose gold (P.S. Jet black is only available in 128 and 256GB models).

Everything you need to see from Apple’s iPhone…
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How much will the iPhone 7 cost and when can you preorder?

The 32GB capacity iPhone 7 starts at $649 full retail, which converts to £487 and AU$846. You’re looking at $32.41 per month with the iPhone Upgrade Program for the base model. We’ll update with more pricing details soon.

iPhone 7 prices

128GB	$749	£699	AU$1,229
256GB	$849	£799	AU$1,379
128GB	$869	£819	AU$1,419
256GB	$969	£919	AU$1,569

If you signed up for the iPhone Upgrade plan, you’re eligible for the new phone as part of the program. Good news for people living in the UK and China: you’ll now be able to sign up, too (it was previously US-only).

You can preorder both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus this Friday, September 9 and phones will ship on September 16. (P.S. iOS 10 becomes available on September 13 for everyone else who’s ready to upgrade.)

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iPhone 7: So long, headphone jack; hello, AirPods
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More about that new camera

Although Apple keeps the megapixel size steady at 12 megapixels, the increased aperture, now f1.8, lens promises to let in 50 percent more light through the six-element lens. That’s better for all photos, and also low-light photography, which Apple emphasized. Low-light is one of the most important battlegrounds for mobile photography, especially as phone owners increasingly take to social networks like Instagram to post pictures from every environment.

More from Apple’s event

• Jet black Apple iPhone 7 is here with a water-resistant body, better cameras — and no headphone jack
• Super Mario is coming to iPhone at last
• Goodbye, headphone jack: Apple iPhone 7 ships with Lightning headphones and dongle
• Apple event live blog: Join us as everything is unveiled
• Full coverage of Apple’s event

Add to this a new image processing chip and faster photo-taking will help Apple step up to high-end Samsung, Sony, LG and Huawei phones that boast brighter low-light photos and much more manual control.

Optical image stabilization, or OIS, is also huge here. Last year’s iPhone 6S Plus was the only phone to have it. This time Apple blesses the iPhone 7 with OIS, which should make for crisper images even if your hands jiggle a bit while you’re taking it.

Finally, a new quad-LED flash (up from a dual-LED flash) will make flash brighter, but hopefully with more natural tones that don’t blow out the scene. The iPhone 7 still supports Live Photos (basically a 3-second video clip) and introduces RAW image support (thanks, iOS 10).

Stay tuned for our hands-on photos and first impressions — we’ll have those up as soon as we can. Meanwhile, check out all of today’s Apple news.