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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.
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.
Here's hoping the rest of the market doesn't make like apple-obsessed sheep for once and make the 3.5mm headphone jack obsolete.
the most shocking announcement this afternoon. i really thought it would be $29.99
Yay, you can no longer listen to headphones at your desk and have your phone charging. Listen all day at the office, phone is dead for the walk home. GREAT Idea.
"it's the best iPhone we have ever created," Apple CEO Tim Cook said.
Amazing, I think I will now purchase an Apple iPhone 7 device due to this declaration by none other than the CEO of Apple. I was content with my Nexus 6P, but that has all changed now. Thanks slashdot for letting me know about this statement in particular, time for the trip behind the woodshed 6P.
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.
the iPhone 7 Plus has a pair of 12MP cameras that are able to take SLR-quality images
Don't lie to me.
It has a tiny little sensor that assuming has perfect glass is just providing false magnification as the lens is a f/1.8 with a pixel edge size of about 1.2um (assuming the same size sensor as in the Apple iPhone 5S) but the diameter of the airy disk would be 3.7um. So the smallest item resolvable would fill about a 3x3 grid. Granted software can get rid of some of that but it isn't going to magically make it deliver results like a full frame SLR with good lenses.
While it is probably a better camera than most other cellphones (seriously these cameras are shit) don't say it holds a candle to an older full frame DSLR or even my 40+ year old film SLR that has some really nice lenses with good film.
Time to offend someone
The existing earpods have a habit of falling from my ears - and now they're not even going to be attached to some wires? Great.
They include the dongle with the phone...
From my point of view, it's a poor implementation. Essentially most people will now have to carry two items around with them - a phone and a dongle - rather than just the one, or else not be able to hook the phone up to a standard audio system.
I also wish we'd wait for an agreed standard. Lightning is essentially a Apple-only standard. Lightning headsets will only ever work with Apple devices, we need a good common digital standard.
What I would do, if I had a million dollars, is produce an iPhone 7 case with the 3.5mm adapter built in. I'd also add USB (with charging available) just for completeness. Everyone buys cases for their phones anyway, and that'd resolve the entire problem so nobody has to carry around multiple adapters.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
They include the dongle with the phone...
That's only a short-term compromise to avoid pissing off the world too much. In the long term headphone makers will start producing Apple-only lightning headphones. Those headphones will have to license Apple since this new interface can negotiate the connection. They will consequently cost more. Moreover, it's a DRM ploy since regulating which devices can connect will also regulate how the media played through that interface can be copied.
So don't buy their headphones if they don't meet your needs? It's not like they're removing Bluetooth or something.
What is it about Apple making accessories for their products that enrages people? Just don't buy the fucking thing.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
More importantly what the FUCK is wrong with people like you who should be embracing technology, being steadfastly against any change?
Not all technology or change is good or desirable.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
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.
Except apps/the phone could refuse to play back certain "rights managed" media if it detects the adapter, or even worse, a non-beats/apple manufactured headset is connected.
"Sorry, this media is exclusive to Beats(tm) headphone users only."
I find the non-technical people I know use 3.5mm jacks to hook up their phones to car stereos. They don't like Bluetooth, it's fiddly and awkward and, if it's not your car, means you have to figure out how to pair with that model. 3.5mm "just works".
First off, let's remember we're talking about setting a standard. Android phones already come with a "just works" digital hookup for headphones, and speakers, and 5.1 speakers, and whatever else you want - it's called a USB port.
There's a difference between Apple going first saying "Let's make a standard" and Apple going first and saying "Here's our proprietary way to do this." It certainly won't drive Android makers to encourage the use of the USB audio, because Apple's showing no signs of being prepared to adopt USB. And without universal adoption, you're just going to end up with a Betamax/VHS set of competing headphones, if Android phone makers went in that direction.
They won't, of course, they'll just carry on with the 3.5mm jack, for better or worse. I'm not a fan of 3.5mm - especially the hacky version we use today where slight voltage changes are used to signal "Play/pause/hangup/skip next track", and would like to see USB take off as a replacement. But, no, I don't see it taking off if the industry is split.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
And yet, no one else seems to have problems creating a 3.5mm jack, including Apple before today.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Two things:
The expensive ass proprietary dongles are free and included with the phone.
The 1/8" stereo plug is over 50 fucking year old. I'm not sure this is the answer, but it's shitty technology
And the wheel is over 5000 years old. Do you have a better idea?
Just because a technology is old, doesn't mean it not still the right solution.