Apple iPhone 7 – End Of A Revolution?

Ghost Of Future’s Past

The iPhone 4 was the last flagship phone announced by Steve Jobs back in 2010. Although Apple keynotes gather tons of attention from the media and fans alike, those truly within the cult of Apple haven’t felt the same. I believe Tim Cook is a fine CEO, he’s done plenty good with Apple. But when it comes to announcing products, he just doesn’t have the same passion and electricity Steve had. Tim is a different guy, a lower energy individual, not as intense. It was a major relief to see Tim finally stepping out of the shadow of Jobs. The Apple keynote began with car pool karaoke with James Cordon and Pharrell. Tim will never draw the rock star celebrity status held by Steve Jobs, but he can definitely stand out with fun tidbits such as this one. Lo and behold, everyone could hence Apple is going in a different direction.

The Greatest Innovators Gone Conservative

Even the truest of Apple fans will admit, the company isn’t the same anymore. Apple may have started revolutions against Microsoft, the music industry, and then the cell phone industry. But long gone are the days of major innovations and forcing the industry to change to their will. It almost seems if Apple uses every iPhone release just to catch up to the latest and greatest features of Android. It’s not to say that the iPhone is not a great phone. Currently, it doesn’t dominate the smartphone market the way it did for many years. The same holds true with last week’s announcement of the iPhone 7. It was refreshing that they decided to buck the audio jack. An outdated technology, the 3.5 mm jack would eventually get phased out. What a joy to see Apple getting ahead of the fold and making those big decisions that made them famous. For those who don’t know, Apple was responsible for changing the 5 inch floppy disk to the 3.5 inch floppy disk. They got rid of the floppy disk all together in the first iMac. They got rid of optical drives with the MacBook air. They have a history of advancing tech by getting rid of features that can be replaced.

What To Expect This Friday?

Apple releases the new iPhone this week amidst a major Samsung flop that caused them to recall every single Note 7 sold worldwide. Pre-orders far exceed that of the 6 and 6s. This is a huge moment for Apple that could let them cut some of those margins Android has created. Should we be excited? Well for starters, they got rid of the 3.5 mm jack for headsets. There will be a lightning to 3.5 mm adaptor in each iPhone box anyhow. Apple hopes people switch to Bluetooth headsets, such as the new wireless earbuds they will release this week. In the recent week, this option has received some negative attention of Apple critics on social media. However, let’s further break down newer features.

• iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have a black and jet black finish
• Both phones are now IP67 water resistant
• A10 chip with M10 embedded (expected to score first place in smartphone benchmarks)
  • 2x Faster than the iPhone 6 (The iPhone 6s currently outscores the Galaxy Note 7 in benchmarks)
• 12 MP rear camera for both phones
• The 7 Plus will have wide angle and telephoto cameras – 2x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom
  • Basically, the phone has two cameras that shoot at once and include image stabilization
• 7 MP front camera
• Brand new home button with touch sensitivity and haptic sensors
• iOS 10 with exciting new features (you can finally remove home apps that you never use such as stocks)
• The screen is 25% brighter and has 3D touch
• Longer lasting battery on both phones
• Stereo Speakers equipped on both phones (top and bottom)
• Up to 25 LTE bands (350 Mbps LTE speeds as well)
• You can answer WhatsApp and 3rd party phone calls

Although the design does not look much different, an already steady phone has been improved. We should be in for a treat this week. Stay tuned for the official review of the Apple iPhone 7.