iPhone 7: Will You Buy It?
iPhone 7: Will You Buy It?
Thousands gathered on Wednesday in an auditorium at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, CA. A video opened the proceedings with James Corden's Carpool Karaoke bit, featuring Apple CEO Tim Cook and Corden cracking jokes about various internet leaks regarding the new iPhone release. For months, rumors have been circulating about the iPhone 7 and what potential new features will help it outshine the rest of the smartphones in its class.
One such rumor which has caused quite a bit of uproar is the disappearance of the headphone jack. This would be an unprecedented move for any smartphone manufacturer, and the possibility highly increased anticipation for the official announcement.
Sure enough, the iPhone 7 and 7 plus will have stereo speakers on the top and bottom of the phone -- thus officially canceling out the headphone jack. The two options for listening to music now are either by using the included headphones or an adapter that both plug into the charging port, or by succumbing to a $159 price tag and buying the official wireless Bluetooth "AirPod" headphones. The AirPods are built with sensors so once you put them in the ear they will start playing music. Additionally, they are touch-responsive and have a total of 24 hours listening time before needing to be charged.
Many people have been voicing their concerns all over social media about the headphone dilemma with the iPhone. Students are also on the fence about whether or not to give into Apple's latest controversial experimentation, or to just stay with their current iPhone. Andrew Schieffelin, a Sophomore at SMC, questions the idea of a charge port-based audio jack, and said "the wireless headphones are really clunky and long, like earrings almost,” and asking “What happens if you need to charge your phone...problematic, right?”
SMC student Joshua Nourafshan said that if he were to buy the iPhone 7, he "would buy the AirPods."
Overall, ten new features for the phone were introduced in the broadcast. Looking at the outside of the device, its new design comes with brand new colors, jet black and a light-diffusing black. Additionally, the home button is force sensitive with a "taptic engine" that allows the button to be triggered without actually being clicked. Users can also have a unique feed for certain actions such as messages and apps, all through tactic engine. Another noteworthy feature for the iPhone is that it is now dust and water resistant up to one meter -- following its competitor Samsung who already has a phone with this feature.
For photography enthusiasts, the camera specs on the new iPhone have been dramatically improved, with much better image stabilization, aperture options, drastic increase in zooming capabilities, and multiple lenses.
In addition to all these features, the HD retina display is more colorful and 25% brighter than its predecessor. Last, but certainly not least, the performance of the new iPhone chip, a10 fusion, with four core processors, is twice as fast as the iPhone 6, and 120 times faster than the original iPhone. It is deemed to be the most powerful chip ever in a smartphone.
The iPhone goes on pre-sale this weekend and will be shipped as soon as next week. It comes in all new storage sizes, doubled in capacity from its predecessors to options of 32, 128 and 256 GB.
Overall, the general sentiments among students toward Apple's latest seem to be divided. SMC student Janna Lao said, “I love it that they are going to up their storage; things take up too much storage anyway." Nourafshan, however, concludes: "I wouldn't recommend buying it. It’s not worth the money."
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