Everything you need to know about Apple's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

Apple on Thursday introduced the iPhone7 and iPhone 7 Plus, among other products, at The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, in San Francisco, California. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple took to the stage first to greet the audience. For almost two hours, Apple and its different executives showcased the new products they have been working on over the past year. Here are some of the highlights from the announcement related to the new iPhones.

Tim Cook

Apple noted that the new iPhones will feature new advanced camera systems, packs more power and performance with improved battery life, immersive stereo speakers, wide colour system from camera to display, two new finishes, and is the first water and dust-resistant iPhone. iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available in more than 25 countries beginning Friday, September 16. Let us explore some of the features in detail-

Also read: Everything you want to know about the new Apple Watch Series 2

New advanced camera systems

The two new iPhones come with improved camera systems equipped with a 12-megapixel camera including optical image stabilisation on both iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and a larger ƒ/1.8 aperture and six-element lens.

The iPhone 7 Plus features the same 12-megapixel wide angle camera as iPhone 7 and adds a 12-megapixel telephoto camera that together offer optical zoom at two times and up to 10 times digital zoom for photos.

iPhone 7 Plus

Coming later this year, the dual 12-megapixel cameras will also enable a new depth-of-field effect, using both cameras on iPhone 7 Plus to capture images, while machine learning and other technologies separate the background from the foreground to achieve portraits, which were once thought possible only with DSLR cameras.

Additional camera advancements include:

• New Apple-designed Image Signal Processor, which the company claims can process over 100 billion operations on a single photo in about 25 milliseconds.
• New 7-megapixel FaceTime HD camera with wide colour capture, advanced pixel technology and auto image stabilisation for even better selfies; and
• New Quad-LED True Tone flash that Apple claims is 50 percent brighter than iPhone 6s including a sensor that detects the flickering in lights and compensates for it in videos and photos.

Also read: Apple launches wireless headphone AirPods

More performance and better battery Life

The new custom-designed Apple A10 Fusion chip features a new architecture that powers these innovations, while also getting more time between charges. The A10 Fusion’s CPU now has four cores, integrating two high-performance cores that run an estimated two times faster than iPhone 6, and two high-efficiency cores that are capable of running at just one-fifth the power of the high-performance cores.

Graphics performance is also more powerful, running up to three times faster than iPhone 6 at as little as half the power, enabling a new level of gaming and professional apps. Both phones include support for up to 25 LTE bands, and LTE Advanced for three times faster data rates than iPhone 6 at up to 450 Mbps.

Audio experience

The new iPhones feature stereo speakers and immersive sound that is two times louder than iPhone 6s, offering increased dynamic range of sound and a higher quality speakerphone. The new iPhone comes with EarPods with lightning connector, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack adapter that allows customers to use old headphones and accessories.

New AirPods, Apple’s new wireless headphones, aims to bring simplicity and technology together to reinvent the wireless experience making headphones easy to use. Featuring the new Apple W1 chip, AirPods have efficient wireless communication for a better connection, improved sound and industry-leading battery life. AirPods harness the power of Siri, allowing users to access their personal assistant with just a double tap.

Design

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus come in silver, gold and rose gold finishes and introduce two all-new black finishes- a black finish that has an anodised matte appearance, and jet-black finish that has a deep, high-gloss look.

Apple noted that the jet-black finish is accomplished through a nine-step process of anodisation and polish for a uniform, glossy finish. An entirely reengineered enclosure results in a water-resistant iPhone offering protection against spills, splashes and dust.

The new iPhone features a colourful Retina HD display with a wide colour gamut for cinema-standard colours, greater colour saturation and what Apple touts to be the best colour management in the smartphone industry. An all-new, advanced, solid-state Home button on iPhone 7 is designed to be durable and responsive, and working in tandem with Apple's new Taptic Engine, which provides more precise and customisable tactile feedback.

Featuring iOS 10

iOS 10 introduces an update to Messages that delivers more expressive and animated ways to message friends and family, the ability for Siri to do more by working with apps, new ways to interact with apps and even more places to use 3D Touch, Apple's redesigned Maps, Photos, Apple Music and News apps, and the Home app, all in one place.

iOS 10 also opens up opportunities for developers with Siri, Maps, Phone and Messages APIs, allowing customers to do more with the apps.

Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior VP of Worldwide Marketing said,

The completely redesigned cameras shoot incredible photos and videos day or night, the A10 Fusion chip is the most powerful chip on any smartphone while delivering the best battery life ever in an iPhone, and an entirely new stereo speaker system provides twice the sound, all within the first water and dust-resistant iPhone.

Pricing and availability

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available in silver, gold, rose gold and the new black finish in 32GB, 128GB and 256GB models starting at $649 (US), and the new jet black finish will be offered exclusively on the 128GB and 256GB models at on Apple's website, Apple Stores, Apple Authorized Resellers and select carriers.

Through Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program, customers in the US, and for the first time in the UK and China, can get an unlocked iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, with the protection of AppleCare+, choose their carrier and have the opportunity to upgrade to a new iPhone every year.

Customers will be able to order iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus from Friday, September 9, with availability beginning Friday, September 16, in 29 select countries including Australia, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the US. Apple also noted that the devices will be available to customers in India beginning Friday, October 7.

Apple-designed accessories including leather and silicone cases in a range of colors will be available starting at $35 and iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case will be offered in black and white for $99. Lightning Docks in several colour-matching metallic finishes will also be available for $49.

In case you missed the livestream, Apple has summarised all the major updates in 107 seconds-