“For the first time, we’re recommending the big phone — in this case, the iPhone 7 Plus — as the iPhone to get this year,” Sascha Segan writes for PC Magazine. “The main visual changes are a larger camera bump on the back for the dual 12MP rear cameras, and the lack of a headphone jack on the bottom, replaced by a grille for the barometer vent. The Taptic home button looks the same as last year’s, but it’s a virtual rather than a physical button. According to various sources, Apple made the switch in part because of an urban legend about mechanical home buttons wearing out and reducing the resale value of phones.”
“Phones are fashion objects, and two new colors join the iPhone array this year. Jet Black, which is glossy but very grippy, is gorgeous,” Segan writes. “It’s also the world’s worst fingerprint magnet. Our Jet Black review unit was impossible to keep pristine — it practically picks up fingerprints out of the air.”
MacDailyNews Take: It is and it does, but, boy, is it worth it!
“What excites me the most about the dual cameras isn’t what they do now; it’s what they could do in the future. Apple has promised (but not yet delivered) bokeh, a trick involving short depth-of-field that blurs the background of images while keeping the foreground sharp. But that’s only the beginning,” Segan writes. “There’s going to be a dual-camera API. That means we could start to see stereo depth-sensing and augmented reality applications using the camera.”
“The iPhone 7 Plus, with its fast processor, high-quality display, and dual cameras, [is] your best bet — and our Editors’ Choice — for large phones,” Segan writes. “The iPhone 7 is still highly rated, and a good upgrade if you have an iPhone 6 or earlier.”
Read more in the full review here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus is easily the best iPhone we’ve ever used (unsurprising, since it’s Apple’s flagship) and the Jet Black has already turned many a head when we’ve flashed them around while out and about.
Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus is unfathomably fast with an indefatigable battery and takes unbelievable photographs. Guess what? Big surprise, it’s our Editors’ Choice, too!
SEE ALSO:
Tom’s Guide reviews Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus: Great upgrades, but one is greater – September 20, 2016
More evidence Apple’s iPhone 7/Plus is more than a modest refresh – September 20, 2016
Professional photographer Benjamin Lowy puts Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus cutting-edge camera to the test – September 20, 2016
Apple’s A10 Fusion chip miracle – September 20, 2016
The iPhone’s new A10 Fusion chip should worry Intel – September 16, 2016
Apple’s remarkable new A10, S2, W1 chips alter the semiconductor landscape – September 15, 2016
Wired reviews Apple’s iPhone 7/Plus: ‘Fantastic’ – September 14, 2016
Sprint, T-Mobile: iPhone 7/Plus pre-orders up 4X over last year; Apple shares surge – September 13, 2016
USA Today’s Baig reviews Apple’s iPhone 7/Plus: ‘A strong handset for sure’ – September 13, 2016
WSJ reviews Apple’s iPhone 7/Plus: ‘Get over the headphone thing and upgrade’ – September 13, 2016
Mossberg reviews Apple’s iPhone 7/Plus: It’s a great phone, but where’s my headphone jack? – September 13, 2016
The Verge reviews Apple’s iPhone 7/Plus: ‘The future in disguise’ – September 13, 2016
I’m waiting for the small form factor iPhone SE. 😎
Upgraded.
>Apple made the switch in part because of an urban legend about mechanical home buttons wearing out and reducing the resale value of phones.
I thought Apple made the switch primarily because it’s easier to waterproof a fake non-mechanical button?
Also, MDN…how the heck did you get a Jet Black 7 Plus? Those are rarer than unicorns! I was up pre-ordering as soon as pre-orders went live and I’m still not getting mine until October.
I got a jet black 7, and my partners best friend got a jet black 7 plus but we were lucky. My order is time stamped 3:02 am eastern time. His was about the same. I know some people had issues loggin into the app or the website until 330 or later. But both of us used the AT&T app and got lucky.
I have a Jet Black iPhone 3gs. 🙂 Reminds me of fine Japanese lacquerware.
The mechanical home buttons *do* wear out. It may take several years, but they get less and less reliable/responsive over time. That is true for my hand-me-down iPhone 4 and my iPad 3 (first retina model). I don’t know about “urban legends” and “resale value,” but I can attest that the home button can become an irritation as it ages.
Thank goodness Consumer Reports didn’t review it yet!
LOVE my new iPhone 7+ thought I was clever ordered a headphone adapter BEFORE it arrived and was ready but didn’t realize one thing. I travel ALL THE TIME and usually only carry one pair of headphones. With my new phone i moved the lightening ones to my bag. Was sitting at Chili’s surfing the web on my mac. Saw a funny item on YouTube and went to move my headphones from my phone to my Mac but OOOPPPSS. Won’t work. And i can’t find an adapter anywhere that takes you from Lightening to 3.5mm (plenty the other way). So now I have to carry two pairs of headphones? Didn’t see that coming. AirPods can’t get here fast enough.
Due to the huge fingerprint issue with jet black and the fact i always put a rubber case on the phone anyway (and usually very glad I did) I’m going with the regular flatter black, which is also much more available. Only about another month and a half to go…