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

[1041958]

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!

Before I went into automotive my original career choice was going to be audio engineering. So yes, I know exactly what a Chord Mojo is. And you're not going to be able to BS someone who is well grounded in both electrical theory and audio.

Next I suppose you're going to tell me a $1,000 set of cables will sound better than a $20 set.

And your last paragraph completely lost me. You seem to be contradicting yourself or being sarcastic. It's hard to tell which.

 

[trsblader]

What exactly counts as "essential?" I love my iPhones and plan to continue buying them, but I can't really think of a single feature that is truly essential anymore in any phone. Maybe cool things, but not essential.

 

[maflynn]

What exactly counts as "essential?" I love my iPhones and plan to continue buying them

I'm not really answering your question about essential, but why buy the 7 then (if you are in fact buying it). I can see my wife getting the 7, because the 6 that she has is finally getting long in the tooth (battery mostly), but for me, I have the SE and while I'll keep getting iPhones, I am passing up on the 7

 

[citysnaps]

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.

OTOH, depending on how the finish wears, it could look pretty good. Kind of like a nice worn leather bag, or pair of jeans. The Japanese notion of wabi-sabi, finding beauty in imperfection - in worn objects and nature - speaks to this.

For those solely into resale value should probably not choose this option though.

 

[linkgx1]

I still have a 6 Plus. I might not even upgrade this year. My current phone is perfectly fine and none of the upgrades seem big enough for me to upgrade. Think of it this way. The new update will come sometime in october (the camera one) and that leaves realistically 11 months to use the features. By the time I would even get the phone would probably be in November.

I honestly think the 7S will be the best upgrade we've seen in a while (considering it's the 10th anniversary of the iPhone). My 6 Plus does like 90% of what I need it to do.

 

[MarkMoseley1]

Just dumb.... Im going to upgrade because I want a black iPhone with 256GB of storage! The improvements with the CPU, GPU and RAM is also what I'm after. I really don't care about an edge to edge screen.

 

[Waxhead138]

Boy, I can already see the reactions of confused teenagers when Apple reject their warranty repair due to liquid damage.

Haha...something like this:

"We clearly stated water repellant....but I not the champagne I smell."

 

[Popeye206]

For someone with an original iPhone 6, although there's nothing wrong with my phone, it just feels like the 7 is a worthwhile upgrade. Way faster processor and better camera is enough to make me want to upgrade. Besides... why not on the Apple program where I'll be able to get the 8 once it's available next year.

Plus, I think there's one feature that I'll be very happy with that has gotten no play at all... the speakers — or in particular the speaker phone. i'm hoping the improved speakers give a much clearer speaker phone. That would be an awesome bonus!

Besides.... my wife wants my iPhone 6... another big motivator to upgrade.

 

[Tycho24]

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 .

I hate him because during that debacle he went from crybaby to bully & horrifically cyberbullied an elderly man, calling him all kinds of names, posting his photo and saying "at least I don't look like this", making ageist & racist comments- showing the world what a lowlife scumbag he is.
As to your comment:
Sure... on some very manly men; a Milanese loop may look absurd (so might an Apple Watch in general). On a svelte, hip, or fashionable man- it would look fine.
Since the gentleman (and I use the term VERY loosely) that we're referring to is in no way muscled, or a roughneck, or manly in any way I can think of- I deem that "excuse" ridiculous for him.

 

[samcraig]

(Some) of the general public won't even care or notice..

 

[mleonm5]

Call me crazy, but all the 6S Plus pics (besides the first restaurant pic) looked better.

Did they mix up the labels?

Yep. 6S+ photos look noticeably better to me also.

 

[jimbobb24]

So weird home button is weird. I am sad. But Apple needed to save money so here we are.

 

[2457248]

The telephoto part of the "dual lens" system is true OPTICAL zoom.

you clearly don't know what optical zoom means.

 

[doelcm82]

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.

In what ways was the 4 a big step? Probably you don't consider Retina display to count, since you discounted the 4", 4.7" and 5" changes.

A front-facing VGA camera for selfies and FaceTime is pretty important, I guess, but not everyone takes selfies or uses FaceTime.

I don't mean to badger you. Well, maybe a little. If you say that the 3GS to the 4 was a bigger step than any update since, I'd like to know what features made it a big step for you. Remember that others may have considered those features to be gimmicky, the way you do with 3D touch.
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So weird home button is weird. I am sad. But Apple needed to save money so here we are.

I wonder how much the new home button with the taptic engine costs, relative to the old mechanical one?

 

[trsblader]

I'm not really answering your question about essential, but why buy the 7 then (if you are in fact buying it). I can see my wife getting the 7, because the 6 that she has is finally getting long in the tooth (battery mostly), but for me, I have the SE and while I'll keep getting iPhones, I am passing up on the 7

I was mostly getting at the headline. Phones haven't offered anything essential for years. I mean they make phone calls and batteries last a full day through normal use and if you get lost there's GPS. Anything else is just a want, not a need.

I'm currently on a 16gb 5s. Whether I get the 7, an SE, or wait another year I haven't decided yet but even with lack of storage I don't find any current phone "essential." Cool? Sure. Fulfilling the definition of essential? Not at all.

 

[ksnell]

Not sure iPhone and essential should be connected in a sentence. First world problems here!

 

[OllyW]

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.

Lightning doesn't output analogue audio so the EarPods will be pretty useless if they don't include a DAC and amp. They are powered from the Lightning port.

 

[iPhaithful]

I hate to be "that guy" but Steve Jobs would've never released a phone with software that was "incomplete"

He also wouldn't let almost 2 years slide between Mackbook Air and Macbook Pro updates.

Let. it. go.

 

[Alphazoid]

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 used to, this is the first year i haven't upgraded.

 

[Aluminum213]

Isn't the Verge the Apple hater website?

what? LOL they're always accused of being in APple's pockets


I love how people change their view on the website whenever they don't agree with them
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you have a 6S do you really need a new phone every year at this point anyway?
Coming from a 6 it is a big big upgrade...

I usually upgrade every year, the jump in performance from 6 to 6S was really noticeable in day to day use

 

[WinstonRumfoord]

No 3.5mm phone socket - No buy.

At this point, you may as well just switch to android or count on holding on to your existing iphone forever. Anyone that thinks Apple will keep the 3.5mm on any future phone releases is (unfortunately)deluding themselves. If they think Apple will reintroduce the 3.5mm after "public outcry", they are even further deluded.

 

[1041958]

what? LOL they're always accused of being in APple's pockets

I love how people change their view on the website whenever they don't agree with them.

It's both. The site itself has an anti-Apple bias (which is subtle), but the posters (who are clearly anti-Apple) think they're Apple fans because they don't criticize Apple enough.

 

[69650]

I don't see anything worth upgrading for which is why I'm going to pass and hope next years model is a whole lot better.

 

[Flood123]

They remove the headphone jack in part to make room for all those fantastic little things that every other phone is able to do with the headphone jack. Impressive.

 

[Jimmy James]

I'm not sure there is such a thing as an essential upgrade anymore. Until they change the interface entirely everything is iterative.