iPhone 7 Reviews: 'Terrific Phones' That Offer a 'Foundation' for the Future, But Not an Essential Upgrade

[GenesisST]

Why do people always say they're not "essential upgrades"? Do they think everyone upgrades yearly?

This is a fantastic upgrade for anyone NOT on a 6S.

I like your "fantastic upgrade" term, because let's face it, no upgrade is essential in this day and age of iterative improvements.

 

[erasr]

I'm on 5s and had that for three years. The other week I smashed the screen and was secretly happy about it...

This absolutely is an essential upgrade for me and I'm mega-pumped for my Sept 16 delivery!

 

[shyam09]

I'm curious how the iPhone 7 Plus takes on the S7/Edge's camera. Clearly the iPhone has superior technology, but it'll be interesting to see how close / far Samsung is (or surprisingly still better) and then compare that to the S8/E's camera when it launches next year.

 

[MH01]

DAC is useless without a proper amplifier circuit to go with it. Who cares what DAC someone puts in a phone when the amplifier can't drive quality headphones?

The Audeze Cipher is how to do Lightning headphones right. Quality DAC, quality amplifier matched to the headphone drivers and DSP specifically tuned for the headphones. This is why they sound better than using the 3.5mm jack.

They are $500 headphones........geez do you think a DAC included with $500 headphones is better than the one inside an iPhone?? It's rhetorical ...

Guess what, plugs those Sines using 3.5mm into my chord mojo on my 6S and your lightning cable solution is inferior.....

So we can summarise the chord mojo is far better DAC/amp than the audeze cipher , both plug into the iPhone via the lightning port, and both act as a DAC/amp for analogue headphones......and both work with any iPhone that has a lightning port, so the iPhone 7 debate is itelavant here.

 

[citysnaps]

Honestly, I understand the convenience factor of having a cell phone camera. But as a keen photographer I prefer my camera as they take superior photographs. Granted I don't always travel with it, and hence the iPhone camera dilemma. But to me, sensor size is much more important, why have two lenses when you can have one big one, that can do what both are? Then worry about aperture and optical zooming (maybe up to 16x)

I'm also a photographer. And have a variety of cameras, including my iPhone.

I've never viewed the strength or power of a photograph (mine or anyone else's) being driven by the capture device.

For me, a compelling photograph is driven by the photographer and his/her life experiences, imagination, ability to see, ability to understand light, and the ability to take what is in front of them and compose a photograph that will hopefully release narrative and stir a viewer's imagination.

Speaking for myself, I have photos captured from my iPhone that are just as strong as those captured from my so-called "real" cameras.

 

[GenesisST]

I'm on a 6 - but have no desire whatsoever to upgrade to a 7.

Same for me. Although, I wouldn't be exactly sad if my 6 broke, though...

 

[chr1s60]

Whoah!
I assume you're talking visually, since there are several other major features and improvements added since the iPhone 4 that you're also not counting:

TouchID
Apple Pay
3D Touch
12 MP camera

I was referring to mostly visual but in general the 4 was a big step from the 3GS. Touch ID was for sure a big improvement and probably the only one almost everyone uses. Apple Pay and 3D Touch not so much. 3D Touch is yet to be anything to write home about and more of a gimmicky feature, imo. Apple Pay has potential but there are still a lot of improvements that need to be made especially when it comes to where it can be used.

 

[Domen151]

They reported the 6s was not a necessary update either. The iPhone 6 had record sales and now the 7 is selling better than the 6 if you believe T-Mobile.

You hit the key point. You upgrade every two years normally and the record sales of the original 6 is time to upgrade.
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Isn't the Verge the Apple hater website?

I think it's quite the opposite...

 

[shaunp]

What.... Are you seirous? Have you listened to good quality music via a portable DAC in a busy environment? Did you also miss the part about ACTIVE NOISE CANCELLING POWERED VIA LIGHTNING so that NOISY COMMUTER TRAIN wouldnt be so GOD DAMN NOISY and you would be able to hear all of that GREAT QUALITY?

I hope the EMPHASIS makes it easier for you to UNDERSTAND the reason for CHANGE to the decrepit crappy analog 3.5mm jack

Did you miss the part where I said I didn't want lightning for a headphones as it was a proprietary connector that will only with with Apple kit. Nor do I want an adaptor.

I'm quite happy with my noise isolation headphones, as they don't totally cut me off from the outside world (so I get to hear announcements if something bad happens - or at least I'm aware of the start of the announcement and can take my headphones out), yet is good enough to drown out most of the background and these headphones work on non-Apple kit, without a single adaptor to break or lose. Nor do I want wireless headphones as they need to be charged and no matter how short the charge time is they always need charging when you don't have a charger with you.

Again, Apple creating 'solutions' to problems that don't exist. There's nothing brave or courageous Apple have done here, it's just plain dumb!

 

[maflynn]

Of the reviews I've read, the concensus seems like a nice update only marred by the lack of a headphone jack

Mosberg wrote this:

I have often complained that Apple was acting too soon, but I always agreed that the move made sense at some point, because the displaced component (the floppy, the optical drive, the Ethernet jack) was being used less and less and there was something better (optical drives, the cloud, Wi-Fi) to replace them.

In this case, I see zero evidence that the 3.5mm audio jack is being used less or has hit a wall. It’s happily transmitting music, podcasts and phone calls to many millions of people from many millions of devices as you read this sentence

Basically its a solution in search of a problem and I agree with his assessment.

Apple says very few people do charge and listen at the same time. I respectfully disagree.

I'm one of those people who listen and charge at the same time

 

[claaaay4]

In the grand scheme of things we COULD all go several years between phone upgrades.

For me though, I decided to break out of the shackles of the phone company, bite the bullet and just buy an iPhone at the full retail price.

Each year, I buy the newest and best phone, this year I bought the iPhone 7 Plus 256Gb in Jet Black. But I was able to sell my 6S Plus for well over half what I paid for it. So the price of upgrading to the new phone was a few hundred bucks. No contract, no hassles, no begging permission from my phone company.

The new iPhone is $969. I'd be shocked if I couldn't sell it for north of $500 when the next iPhone comes out. Perhaps more.

So is $300-$400 worth it for an entire year of a brand new phone, and more importantly an amazing camera (I travel a lot and so a good phone camera is worth it to me). Yeah, for me it is. I probably could have gotten the 128Gb model and saved a little more, but the cost of correcting that mistake down the road is pretty high, so I'd rather pay the extra up front there.

100% my thoughts. No contracts. No restrictions. Best resale value. No regrets. Thats smart business if you ask me.

 

[MH01]

Lol, that pudgy little spoiled brat is ANYTHING but manly!
Weird that you thought that you needed to "come to the rescue" of someone that's manly, by the way... that seems counterintuitive.

Actually I could care less about him. And I'm not sure how on earth you came to the conclusion I defended him or proclaimed him to be mainly.....no no no...

I was referring to the comments around the image, Lets for a sec pretend the person there does not have a face.....you know to take the bias out of it cause while my point is the Milanese loop on males, while you need to bash said individual? Why cause he gave the Apple Watch a bad review? Seems petty.....and I bought 2 anyway .

 

[LovingTeddy]

Did you miss the part where I said I didn't want lightning for a headphones as it was a proprietary connector that will only with with Apple kit. Nor do I want an adaptor.

I'm quite happy with my noise isolation headphones, as they don't totally cut me off from the outside world (so I get to hear announcements if something bad happens - or at least I'm aware of the start of the announcement and can take my headphones out), yet is good enough to drown out most of the background and these headphones work on non-Apple kit, without a single adaptor to break or lose. Nor do I want wireless headphones as they need to be charged and no matter how short the charge time is they always need charging when you don't have a charger with you.

Again, Apple creating 'solutions' to problems that don't exist. There's nothing brave or courageous Apple have done here, it's just plain dumb!

All the sudden 3.5mm is crappy crappy analog 3.5mm jack, but it wasn't before iPhone 7.

 

[insomniac86]

I have a 6S and I'm going to a 7+. I think that represents a pretty hefty upgrade.

It will be a huge upgrade from a 6s to a 7+. I went from a 6 to a 6s Plus and it was so much better to use. The larger display + higher resolution it worth the jump for sure. Now that i have a 6s+, i can't justify going to the 7+. However i think the improvements are fantastic. Which will mean even more to look forward to when i get the next release (Hoping that it's an 8).

 

[Chupa Chupa]

If the people using phrases like 'if Steve Jobs were alive......', 'this would never happen under Steve Jobs...', realised how juvenile they sound, they would stop.

Steve Jobs is dead - accept it. He's never coming back. No one EVER will be like Steve Jobs. What he WOULD have done is totally irrelevant at this point. Please move on to something actually pertinent to discussions here.

You could not be more wrong. Steve Jobs transformed not just Apple but CE and helped shape 21st century communications. He is a modern day CE standard bearer if anyone is. Of course people are going to compare what he did with those that follow just as historians compare other U.S. Presidents to great presidents like Washington and Jefferson. That's not to say these men were perfect, just as Jobs was not. But they certainly made a huge positive societal impact. To say, "Jobs is dead, move on," is to ignore any lessons and case studies he gave us. That would be the essense of ignorance.

 

[MH01]

I'm also a photographer. And have a variety of cameras, including my iPhone.

I've never viewed the strength or power of a photograph (mine or anyone else's) being driven by the capture device.

For me, a compelling photograph is driven by the photographer and his/her life experiences, imagination, ability to see, ability to understand light, and the ability to take what is in front of them and compose a photograph that will hopefully release narrative and stir a viewer's imagination.

Speaking for myself, I have photos captured from my iPhone that are just as strong as those captured from my so-called "real" cameras.

I agree. Photography is about the photographer , they are the artist, they produce the magic using tools.

Sadly I love the tools and engineering behind them, and lack artistic component . Though for me there is engineering / optical magic that is Leica lenses that create magic of thier own, as an example where hardware take the artistic magic to another level.

 

[InuNacho]

The Verge said non-adopters "won't actually be missing out on much" if they don't get an iPhone 7, which it described as a "transitional step to a vision of the future" and a "foundation" for how the next generation of iPhones will integrate into our lives.

What, being glued to your phone while walking or checking it a hundred times a day isn't integration? Do we need bionic implants or something?

 

[Mactendo]

the wider color gamut, and the real potential of the Taptic Engine and the iPhone 7 Plus's dual-lens camera - which rely on software updates - won't be realized at launch

So these features are missing and not ready in time. What they were doing the whole year? Such incompetence, yet Cook enjoyed himself so much singing karaoke and starring in videos. He should leave ASAP.

which it called "terrific phones" but ... non-adopters "won't actually be missing out on much"

It also mentioned that ... Taptic Engine feedback makes it feel as if the whole bottom half of the phone is clicking, yet it called the implementation a "flawless transition"

Ok, these hypocritical journalists can leave their jobs too. They are trying to praise what they consider mediocre.

It's bad but it's good. It's terrific but you won't be missing out on much. Half of the phone vibrates but it's a flawless transition.

wtf is going on with this world.

 

[1041958]

They are $500 headphones........geez do you think a DAC included with $500 headphones is better than the one inside an iPhone?? It's rhetorical ...

Guess what, plugs those Sines using 3.5mm into my chord mojo on my 6S and your lightning cable solution is inferior.....

So we can summarise the chord mojo is far better DAC/amp than the audeze cipher , both plug into the iPhone via the lightning port, and both act as a DAC/amp for analogue headphones......and both work with any iPhone that has a lightning port, so the iPhone 7 debate is itelavant here.

Making stuff up I see? How do you know your Chord Mojo will sound better? You don't. The only thing you could reasonably claim is they could play louder as they have a built-in battery and could contain a more powerful amplifier.

And your Mojo doesn't have a DSP that's specifically tuned to the headphones they're driving. Which is why your claim the Audeze will sound better with the Mojo is pure rubbish.

DACs (I'm talking about the actual chip itself, not a self contained unit like the Mojo) are dirt cheap these days. Even inexpensive headphones will be able to use a quality DAC. Or cables/adapters. The DAC companies who've been ripping people off for years are not happy about this move by Apple. Once everyone starts making quality headphones with internal DACs (or cables) that rival external DACs (like the Mojo) then they're going to see their sales plummet.

Who wants to carry around another "box" when you can have everything built into your cable or headphone?

 

[pjarvi]

Or anyone that doesn't care about headphone sound quality.

According to a website on the Internet called "MacRumors" (yeah, I never heard of them either) lightning connector headphones sound better than 3.5mm headphones: https://www.macrumors.com/2016/05/09/iphone-7-lightning-headphones-hands-on/

 

[MH01]

Making stuff up I see? How do you know your Chord Mojo will sound better? You don't. The only thing you could reasonably claim is they could play louder as they have a built-in battery and could contain a more powerful amplifier.

And your Mojo doesn't have a DSP that's specifically tuned to the headphones they're driving. Which is why your claim the Audeze will sound better with the Mojo is pure rubbish.

DACs (I'm talking about the actual chip itself, not a self contained unit like the Mojo) are dirt cheap these days. Even inexpensive headphones will be able to use a quality DAC. Or cables/adapters. The DAC companies who've been ripping people off for years are not happy about this move by Apple. Once everyone starts making quality headphones with internal DACs (or cables) that rival external DACs (like the Mojo) then they're going to see their sales plummet.

Who wants to carry around another "box" when you can have everything built into your cable or headphone?

Hmmm. Do you know what the chord mojo is? Are you seriously suggesting a $50 lightning cable with built in DAC will out perform it??? Do tell. I'd suggest you read some reviews and try one.

Yeah chord mojo works with any headphones, cause geez it would get really really expansive everytime I wanted to get a mojo that was tuned to a specific headphone .

It's why......here is the punchline.....we own multiple dacs/amps...we choose the one to suit the music and headphone. The idea of the perfect DAC for a headphone is markerting crap.... There is no DAC/AMP/headphone that suits all music!

 

[Sikh]

Spot on.

I love the versatility of using the 3.5mm jack when on the way to the gym, followed by plugging the headphones into an iPod , and when I want to enjoy a music session, plugging in a chord mojo into the lighting port in my 6S to act as a DAC/amp.

Can't think of anything worse than getting bundled dacs in lightning headphones .

You think having an integrated DAC is bad? Really? Thats quality in every pair versus quality change

DAC is useless without a proper amplifier circuit to go with it. Who cares what DAC someone puts in a phone when the amplifier can't drive quality headphones?

The Audeze Cipher is how to do Lightning headphones right. Quality DAC, quality amplifier matched to the headphone drivers and DSP specifically tuned for the headphones. This is why they sound better than using the 3.5mm jack.

Its ok, everything has a DAC, nothing sounds better with ACTUAL EQUIPMENT made to make it sound like what its suppose too.... FLAC is a nonsense format

You may want to read what he wrote. Cause it's exactly the scenario you are experiencing with your dragonfly DAC plugged into your iPhone via limiting port.

All lightening audio cables have a built in DAC, they cannot function without out, it's not a feature. Your dragonfly is a DAC....

Not all lightning audio cables have a built in DAC. The earpods dont, none of the cheaper stuff does. You need power to drive a DAC and the DAC is usually integrated into the headphones when it comes to lightning headphones. Look at Philips Fidelio M2L/27 headphones.

All the sudden 3.5mm is crappy crappy analog 3.5mm jack, but it wasn't before iPhone 7.

Lmao I'm glad you like to assume. I havent used my headphone jack for 5 years now, going on 6.
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Hmmm. Do you know what the chord mojo is? Are you seriously suggesting a $50 lightning cable with built in DAC will out perform it??? Do tell. I'd suggest you read some reviews and try one.

Yeah chord mojo works with any headphones, cause geez it would get really really expansive everytime I wanted to get a mojo that was tuned to a specific headphone .

It's why......here is the punchline.....we own multiple dacs/amps...we choose the one to suit the music and headphone. The idea of the perfect DAC for a headphone is markerting crap.... There is no DAC/AMP/headphone that suits all music!

There are DAC's that work for most use cases when they come with an App to balance EQ. These DACs are becoming more popular

 

[Kapazza]

I'm guessing most of us who flipped a coin and decided regular Black instead of Jet Black are feeling pretty good right now. It's too bad Apple couldn't have figured out a better, more protective clear coat for the Jet Black. Most of those phones are going to look awful in a month's time.

Here's a preview of what to expect after 1 week without a case: https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/scratch.jpg?w=1024

 

[pawel_z_wrocka]

Why do people always say they're not "essential upgrades"? Do they think everyone upgrades yearly?

This is a fantastic upgrade for anyone NOT on a 6S.

Thank you for this! Exactly! I have an iPhone 6 Plus and a pretty battered one at that and I can't wait for iPhone 7 Plus.

 

[ke-iron]

What?
"probably the best portable cameras ever made".
Are you saying real cameras - double and triple the functionality of the iPhone 7 are Not portable?

Heavily taking "size" into consideration. It probably is the best portable camera. What you guys don't seem to understand is carrying around dslr even though small, it's not really small enough for every day use or fit into people's every day lives. Where as an iPhone can probably fit into a baby's pants pocket.