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Apple Launches the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus; Feature Water-Resistance, Lack Headphone Jack (www.bgr.in)

Apple on Wednesday unveiled its new flagship smartphones: the iPhone 7, and the iPhone 7 Plus. Both the iPhones look similar to the last year's iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, but offer a range of new features. Chief among those features are water and dust resistance, stereo speakers, improved cameras (the iPhone 7 Plus has a pair of 12MP cameras that are able to take SLR-quality images. It offers bokeh capability). And yes, the new iPhones indeed lack the headphone jack. "it's the best iPhone we have ever created," Apple CEO Tim Cook said. The home button is getting taptic feedback, similar to that of the MacBook.

So why is Apple removing the headphone jack? Apple's SVP Phil Schiller said, "courage."The company also announced AirPods wireless earphones. A pair of these will be priced at $169. The iPhones will go on sales starting September 16 in several regions including the United States In places like India, however, it will be available starting October 7.

11 of 551 comments (clear)

  1. Courage? To profit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    So they take away the 3.5 jack, give us an easy-to-lose adapter, and want to sell us their proprietary wireless one-size-fits-none earphones. And they call it courage? Really?
    Oh, but they have licensed out the wireless tech for a whopping 3 alternative headsets. I suppose that is supposed to appease us.

  2. BS on the bokeh by Solandri · · Score: 5, Informative

    iPhone 7 Plus has a pair of 12MP cameras that are able to take SLR-quality images. It offers bokeh capability

    Bokeh is a function of the lens diameter relative to the subject distance (and distance of other objects from the focal plane). For a given scene, cannot be created any other way other than a physically bigger lens. You know the penumbra during an eclipse (the area experiencing a partial eclipse during a solar eclipse)? That corresponds to bokeh. There is nothing you can do on the ground to enlarge this area. It is purely a function of geometry. (Mathematically, it's the point distribution function of the lens.)

    You can fake it in software. I've been saying for over a decade that two small lenses with some lateral separation should allow an algorithm to estimate distance and blur the parts of the picture outside the focal plane appropriately to simulate bokeh. But it's not real bokeh, it's a digital manipulation.

    1. Re:BS on the bokeh by Kjella · · Score: 3, Informative

      You can fake it in software. I've been saying for over a decade that two small lenses with some lateral separation should allow an algorithm to estimate distance and blur the parts of the picture outside the focal plane appropriately to simulate bokeh. But it's not real bokeh, it's a digital manipulation.

      Not sure I care. Reality is as my eyes see it, either way you're trying to manipulate reality except one limits you to physical effects and the other uses both physical and digital effects. Particularly if you are measuring focused light and simulate the out of focus effect you could have had with a different lens, I think it's more in the direction towards adjusting color/contrast/white balance and not photoshopping in Gollum. I suppose if you're in some kind of nature photography competition or news reporting where accuracy to reality is paramount this might be off limits, but for average people who'll just as easily use snapchat and instagram filters this is about a 1/10 on the photo manipulation scale.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  3. Re:DRM ahoy :( by David_Hart · · Score: 4, Informative

    WTF is "SLR-quality" supposed to mean? (Question being asked by someone who knows what SLR is).

    The actual claim by Apple is that it provides "DSLR-like depth" by adding a "bokeh effect" feature. This is achieved through using a two camera system built-into the phone. There is no claim of SLR Quality. The Slashdot article summary is incorrect in this regard...

  4. Re:DRM ahoy :( by mindwhip · · Score: 3, Informative

    you realise that apple are the sheep with the water resist idea and there are already a number of android phones out there already with water resist? and the others managed to give water resist and keep the headphone jack? and that my 3 year old android phone is just as usable as it was when new?

    --
    [The Universe] has gone offline.
  5. Re:DRM ahoy :( by Moridineas · · Score: 2, Informative

    Other than the fact that Apple includes an adapter in the box, everything you say is correct.

  6. Re:Courage, it didn't come, doesn't matter by imgod2u · · Score: 4, Informative

    They include the dongle with the phone...

  7. Re:Because they don't care by Moridineas · · Score: 4, Informative

    That's the stupidest damn thing; should've at least been a splitter adapter.

  8. Re: DRM ahoy :( by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 5, Informative

    That that is an absolute lie, total BS. A bulky 3.5mm jack is 0.5cc. Assuming the previous life of their 1715mA/3.7V battery was 14 hours, they are now adding another 245mA/3.7V worth of battery to it, to get those 2 additional hours. That translates to an energy density of around 6.4 MJ/L, about three times what the best LiPo batteries can give. Not a chance.

    If it lasts longer, it's not from a bigger battery, it's from more efficient components elsewhere. They're feeding you a line and you're swallowing it.

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  9. Where?? What is wrong with MORE CHOICE by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Informative

    The phone ships with an adaptor that gives you back the audio jack you could copy from if you wished... no more DRM than before.

    It just ALSO gives you an improved audio path that provides power to headphones.

    What is wrong with having an improved set of choices? More importantly what the FUCK is wrong with people like you who should be embracing technology, being steadfastly against any change?

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  10. Headphone jack vs waterproofing... BULLSHIT! by Miamicanes · · Score: 3, Informative

    Apple is claiming they did it to make the phone waterproof. Apparently, they didn't bother to spend about 12 seconds with Google searching for "ip67 headphone jack", because if they DID, they'd have found countless IP67-rated headphone jacks like this one:

    http://koumay.en.alibaba.com/p...

    For those who don't know, the "7" in "IP67" means "waterproof to a depth of 1 meter for 30 minutes". I didn't have time to search further, but I'd be shocked if there wasn't at least one company that makes IP68 ("waterproof to a depth guaranteed by manufacturer, generally 1-3 meters, for some period of time also guaranteed by the manufacturer"). Note that IP ratings for things like headphone jacks don't guarantee that the jack itself won't end up with gunk in it if you drop it into mud, only that the jack ITSELF won't allow water to pass through to the interior of the phone case.