What a buzz the new iPhone has created

If you are a fan of Apple products, September is usually a month to look forward to. Last Wednesday, Apple, the iPhone maker, released its new flagship, the iPhone 7, and its cousin, iPhone 7 Plus.

This has come a month after Apple celebrated selling its billionth phone since iPhones were introduced to the market nine years ago.

The question is: Is it worth buying? Or, by extension, is it an innovative product worthy of all the attention it is getting?

The new phone has a faster processor, longer battery life and more storage.

The iPhone 7 features a 12-megapixel camera with image stabilisation, a larger aperture and a six-element lens, all of which will combine to produce better photos than is possible on previous models.

Where things get more interesting is with the larger iPhone 7 Plus model, which houses not one but two cameras. The iPhone is renowned for taking great photos.

Even by that measure, the iPhone 7 Plus contains some new technology that promises to push phone photography to a whole new level.

The Plus has the same wide-angle lens as its smaller cousin, but also a second miniature telephoto lens that allows for two times optical zoom.

Optical zoom is important because it allows the lens to get nearer to the subject, as opposed to digital zoom, which is a software trick used by all phone cameras to simulate real close-ups, but in actual fact the photo appears degraded.

ZOOMING TO FACTOR 10

The iPhone 7 Plus will be capable of zooming in to a factor of 10. For consumers who like to snap photos, that’s a definite selling point. Apple follows HTC, LG, and Huawei down the dual-shooter path.

The company has opted to double the storage of its entire iPhone range, with 32GB, 64GB and 128GB options. That gets rid of the much-hated, bottom of the range 16GB iPhone.

Apple’s relatively stingy storage options has long proven an extra problem because the company doesn’t let buyers add external storage to the phones.

With many Android devices, a slot is provided for an SD card that can dramatically boost the storage — but iPhone users have to take what they buy.
The phone is also water and dust proof. Though that phone has received a fairly high waterproof rating, which means that it is splash resistant — Apple won’t actually be able to replace any phone that breaks down after getting wet.

Apple’s own warranty makes clear that water damage is still possible and that, if it happens, it won’t be able to fix the phone for free.
The company also warns: “Do not attempt to charge a wet iPhone. Liquid damage not covered under warranty.”

Apple has also eliminated the iPhone’s headphone jack in favour of connecting earphones via its Lightning charging port, or wirelessly by EarPods.

The EarPods will last five hours on one charge. Their case will also hold 24-hours of charge, meaning they can be placed back in there when they run out of battery.

The pods resemble miniature hair dryers. They are small and liable to get lost. They have to be bought separately from the phone.

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

If you have fallen for this phone, be prepared to fork out not less that Sh70,000 when it reaches Kenya next month.

Wambugu is an informatics specialist. [email protected] @samwambugu2