Apple announces water resistant iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

[HEXUS]

Similar design to iPhone 6(S) but with improved cameras, stereo sound, no headphone jack.

Read more.

[DanceswithUnix]

So they have gone big.LITTLE? Interesting, wonder what they used for the slower core.

[Smudger]

Nothing there that hasn't already been on other phones.

[Saracen]

Well, speaking as someone that wasn't going to buy an iPhone anyway, or any other premium-priced phone for that matter, Apple aren't likely to be bothered about my views.

But, if I had been in the market for one, then they haven't addressed one of my red-line issues (card slot), and have gone backwards in removing the headphone jack. Sure, I get the "splash/water resistant" thing, but speaking for myself, as soneone that's had a string of "personal" devices starting with the original Sony Walkman, I've yet to get one rained on or drop it in the bath.

I do, however, rely on m nice, and quite expensive, earphones with my current source of portable music. Yet now, it seems, I'm either supposed to buy a premium-priced set of Apple wireless earphones (not happening) or carry around some adapter thing.

I wasn't going to buy an iphone 7 anyway, but if I had been, I wouldn't.

[jimbouk]

Water resistant is interesting, have they made the touchscreen work when water is on it? My non-waterproof but repeatedly used in the rain Moto G gets very twitchy when the screen is wet. Whilst I would like a new sub 5 inch smart phone, the price premium and otherwise average features mean it's a no go - even before you consider the lack of headphone socket...

[DanceswithUnix]

Yet now, it seems, I'm either supposed to buy a premium-priced set of Apple wireless earphones (not happening) or carry around some adapter thing.

I don't get the hate for this. With the old system you have the old as the walkman annoyance of being tethered to the music device, and you are at the mercy of Apple's DAC and analogue circuitry choice.

Bluetooth has for many years been able to do digital audio, and you can buy bluetooth to headphone adaptors starting quite cheaply. If you are after audiophile reasons, then getting a low power bluetooth radio gets your DAC away from all the noisy high current baseband cell radio, display and application CPU electronics of the phone, and gets you a choice of who converts your digits into the carefully controlled voltage that your cans want.

My son, otoh, now has bluetooth headphones despite his phone having a perfectly serviceable headphone jack. He thinks having another thing to charge is worth it over tangled wires.

I shudder to think how many headphone jacks I replaced over the last 30 years of portable music players. If they go, I really don't think I will miss them.

Oh, and people don't drop them in the bath, apparently they drop them in the toilet as they fall out of a pocket

[Platinum]

Little underwhelmoing tbh, the only real step forward I can see is the removal of the legacy headphone jack.
I would also liked to have seen a splitter lightning / 3.5mm jack for the people out there that need to charge and listen at the same time.

[Myss_tree]

Simply Magical ;-)

[peterb]

Interesting that the entry price point is the same as the 6/6s. Still way too expensive for me, so I was hoping that the other models would drop in price - maybe later in the year...

[Gh0sty]

I'm not a fan of apple products and this helps reinforce that. The display resolution is poor. Only offering HD quality when most other manufacturers are higher than that. Losing the headphone jack in an attempt to get you to buy their wireless ones, which look awful and hold a tiny amount of charge. If you want good sound quality they need to be wired. (I know most people just play mp3s which aint the best sound quality)Just seems to be another way of parting the fanboys & girls with their monies!

[virtuo]

Well they do provide an adapter to use your old wired headphones, it plugs in to the thunderbolt port according to the article. And both phones even come with wired earphones as standard - you just have to plug them directly in to the thunderbolt port rather than a 3.5mm jack - not anywhere near as bad as everyone seems to be making out, but you probably can't charge and listen at the same time (not seen the adapter, might have a passthru).

Agree those wireless earphones just look like the standard uncomfortable apple buds with the wires pulled off. And what's with those hands?

I'm not excited by this, even with "water resistance" I wouldn't dream of using anything that expensive near water. The dual cameras on the 7+ have possibilities.

[Jowsey]

I believe a much more agreeable tactic to ease the move to wireless headphones would have been the inclusion of an adaptor that would turn normal headphones into wireless ones in addition to the lightning connector.

IMNSHO, as an Android user, I was watching the Anandtech write up of the unveiling with an odd kind of 'over-the-fence' approach. It was interesting but I was not interested. Much of a muchness though, as most phone releases are nowadays.

[virtuo]

I've just seen the Lightning to 2.5mm adapter - very basic, so you definitely can't charge your phone at the same time.

And they want £159 for the airpods.

The airpod case is nice though, it charges them up while inside. So long as you haven't lost one, which I think many/most will do.

There'll probably be an accessory that joins them up with a thin wire shrouded in flexible plastic to avoid that.

[Jowsey]

There'll probably be an accessory that joins them up with a thin wire shrouded in flexible plastic to avoid that.

And it'll only cost you £39, introducing the iForgot (the value of my own money)!

[virtuo]

And it'll only cost you £39, introducing the iForgot (the value of my own money)!

Is that a launch-day discount?

The "Pro" version will also allow you to tether it to a device via a small round socket (optional adapter sold seperately)

[Top_gun]

Interesting that the entry price point is the same as the 6/6s. Still way too expensive for me, so I was hoping that the other models would drop in price - maybe later in the year...

Probably won't drop in price as long as the pound is weak against dollar thanks to Brexit.