WATERPROOF IPHONE 7: A FEELING OF FAMILIARITY
Dual cameras, longer battery life, AirPods among new features
Apple added new features to its smartphone and smartwatch Wednesday, spotlighting the company’s game plan of improving on its successes as opposed to diving into new categories.
After a quick reference to Apple’s new iOS 10, Apple CEO Tim Cook told the crowd at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, “Of course, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system deserves the most advanced smartphone, and here it is.”
The biggest news from the two-hour event was the unveiling of Apple’s new iPhone 7. The smartphone, which now comes in black, boasts long-rumored features such as water-resistance, stereo speakers, longer battery life and, on the larger 7 Plus, dual cameras that allow for telephoto photography. iPhone 7 is due out Sept. 16 and starts at $649 for the smallest 32 GB version.
Also unveiled was a second generation Watch that now is waterproof and has a built-in GPS feature. A new Nike-edition Watch dials up the runner-focused features of the product, which has a heavy fitness focus. The Watch starts at $349.
Perhaps the only truly new product from Apple was a new wireless earbud called AirPods ($159, due next month), which look like the company’s current white earphones minus the snaking cord. AirPods can be used in stereo or in one ear only.
The Cupertino, Calif., company has deliberately stayed vague about its plans in hot tech arenas such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality. And its in- volvement in self-driving cars remains but a rumor. Instead, it appears to be doubling down on a group of products that have helped cement its name and filled its coffers.
More than a billion iPhones have sold around the world, and Apple Watch has, over the past 18
“Of course, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system deserves the most advanced smartphone, and here it is.” Tim Cook, Apple CEO
months, become second only to Rolex in sales revenues. Apple’s market cap is $580 billion, and the company is sitting on more than $200 billion in cash, much of it generated by iPhone.
Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller took the stage to run down a range of iPhone 7 details, starting with it being water- and dust-resistant. He went on at length about the product’s prowess as a camera. “What we have here is a huge advancement for photography for cellphones,” he said.
The iPhone 7 has a new optical stabilizer, a larger aperture lens and a new high-speed sensor that’s 60% more efficient, Schiller said. The flash produces 50% more light. The new image signal processor in the phone uses machine learning to find bodies in a frame, sets exposure, color balance, tone mapping and noise reduction. “It’s a super computer for photos,” Schiller said.
The larger iPhone 7 Plus features a long-rumored dual lens setup: a wide-angle new telephoto lens, a zoom feature that is unique to smartphones and more common to larger DSLs with interchangeable lenses.
By tapping the screen of the phone before taking a photo, a “2x” icon appears on the screen indicating the beginning of the zoom process.
iPhone 7 also has dual speakers, which can play at twice the volume generated by the iPhone 6. Wired headphones are moving to a connection through the phone’s Lightning port, typically used for powering up the device.
New iPhone 7s will come with Lightning-connected headphones as well as a connection jack that will enable owners of old headphones to use the new phone.