{"id":42998,"date":"2016-09-07T05:24:03","date_gmt":"2016-09-07T09:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/?p=42998"},"modified":"2025-04-13T23:28:05","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T03:28:05","slug":"iphone-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/2016\/iphone-7\/","title":{"rendered":"iPhone 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

The big stuff first: The iPhone 7 is waterproof, no longer comes with a built-in headphone jack, and adds Jet Black to its color lineup. It’s the same size as the iPhone 6<\/a> and 6S<\/a>, and there is no longer a 16 GB model – choices are 32 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB, but Jet Black is only available for the higher capacity models.
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On the tech front, the iPhone 7 is powered by the new Apple A10 processor.With all that power, Apple promises “up to” 2 hours more battery life when accessing the Internet than the iPhone 6S.<\/p>\n

The iPhone’s rear camera has an f\/1.8 lens, up from f\/2.2 on recent iPhones, which transmits about 70% more light. Apple now uses four LEDs for its True Tone flash.<\/p>\n

The only iPhone 7 spec that is a step backward from the iPhone 6S is audio playback, now rated at 40 hours instead of 50. That’s because the new EarPods connect via Lightning, not a traditional headphone jack. (EarPods with Lightning Connector retail for $29 and are compatible with all iOS devices with a Lightning port.<\/p>\n

Finishes include gold, rose gold, silver, space gray, and jet black.<\/p>\n

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Apple has upgraded front and rear cameras. The iSight camera jumps from 8 MP (megapixels) to 12 MP, and it can record 4k video at 30 fps. Apple is adding a new feature, Live Photos, that will show a few seconds surrounding the photo itself. It can even take 12 MP stills while you are filming 4k video!<\/p>\n

The front FaceTime HD camera is now 7 MP, a small step forward from 5 MP in the previous generation iPhone, and it can shoot 720p HD video. Instead using True Tone flash with the FaceTime camera, the iPhone 7 uses the phone’s screen as a flash\/light source.<\/p>\n

Apple claims the CPU in the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus is up to 70% more powerful than the one in the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus – and the graphics 90% faster. Although Apple has not yet released specs, based on Geekbench results<\/a>, the A9<\/a> appears to be a dual-core CPU running at 1.85 GHz with 2 GB of system memory – twice the memory of the iPhone 6.<\/p>\n

Combine that with a new storage system that’s easily twice as fast, and you have the most powerful iOS device to date. It will be superseded by the iPad Pro in November. Between a 32% faster clock speed, twice the memory, faster access to storage, and architectural improvements compared to the A8, the iPhone 6S benchmarks 53% higher than the iPhone 6 and 37% ahead of the previous record-holding iPad Air 2<\/a> in single-core testing. With its triple-core processor, the iPad Air 2 still has a small edge – about 4.5% – over the iPhone 6S.<\/p>\n

For those keeping score, the only current Android device with a higher multi-core Geekbench score<\/a> is the 8-core 1.5 GHz Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. In single-core tests, nothing can hold a candle to the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, the nearest competitor being the 2.5 GHz dual-core HTC Nexus 9 – which the A9 beats by over 30%.<\/p>\n

This is the first iPhone to use Bluetooth 4.2.<\/p>\n

The iPhone 6S supports even more bands of LTE than previous models, and it can connect to 802.11ac networks for the fastest WiFi in an iPhone to date.<\/p>\n

As with the iPhone 6, there is no 32 GB model. Instead, it jumps from the entry-level 16 GB model to 64 GB for an additional $100 in price. It is also has a 128 GB option.<\/p>\n

Apple has dropped support for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard<\/a>, all versions of Windows prior to 7, and iTunes 11. It now requires OS X 10.7.5 Lion<\/a> or newer, Windows 7 or newer, and iTunes 12.3 or newer.<\/p>\n

Hardware Overview<\/h3>\n

Models<\/h4>\n