iPhone,iPhone 7 Plus,
The iPhone 7 Plus will be unveiled in less than a month. In our iPhone 7 Plus preview we explain what to expect from what is a crucial smartphone launch for Apple, after two quarters of plateauing iPhone sales: the iPhone 7 Plus's design, screen and camera features, and its tech specs and UK price
iPhone 7 Plus preview: Expectations sky-high for Apple's next flagship phablet
Welcome to our iPhone 7 Plus preview; that's the big-screen phablet Apple will launch in September 2016. If you'd prefer to read about the mid-size iPhone 7, head over to our iPhone 7 preview. This article, by the way, will turn into our iPhone 7 Plus review when the product launches next month, and continue to be updated regularly as we spend more and more time with it.
It's August, which means it's nearly time for a new set of iPhones. Next month we expect to see a new mid-size iPhone 7, and a larger iPhone 7 Plus phablet, which is what we'll be discussing in this article. Some pundits have predicted that we'll get a third new iPhone - the iPhone 7 Pro - but we're sceptical on that one.
In our iPhone 7 Plus preview, we comb through the leaked photos and components that have emerged from Apple's labyrinthine hardware supply chain, speak to insider sources and weigh put up the words of industry experts, all in a bid to evaluate the iPhone 7 Plus's design, features and likely tech specs. Not to mention whether or not it's going to be any good. Will the iPhone 7 handsets set Apple back on the path to riches and glory?
iPhone 7 Plus preview: Design & build quality
Apple traditionally follows a 'tick tock' update cycle with its iPhones: a major, full-number update with a visible physical redesign (iPhone 4, iPhone 5, iPhone 6) followed by a minor, S-branded update that looks roughly or exactly the same as its predecessor (iPhone 4s, iPhone 5c/5s, iPhone 6s). So after the relatively unexciting update last year we're expecting and hoping for a fundamentally different design.
The iPhone 6s's visible antenna bands are likely to be removed - that's been backed up by numerous leaks - and we're hopeful that the camera lens, which protruded from the rear of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, will be smoothed down. (Note, however, that the Plus version of the iPhone 7, but not the midsize iPhone 7 itself, is widely believed to include a dual-lens camera setup, which will entail changes to the chassis design too. We talk about camera changes in a dedicated section below.)
It's now almost universally believed that the iPhone 7 Plus won't feature a 3.5mm headphone jack - something we consider in more depth below. But this would have ramifications for the physical design, enabling Apple's engineers to rearrange the internals and squeeze in a touch more battery capacity or a second speaker - the latter potentially boosting the iPhone 7 Plus's sheer audio oomph but unlikely to provide any kind of perceptible stereo effect, given how close together they would be.
On the other hand, the engineers may simply use the removal of the headphone port as a means of spreading out the other components and making the device thinner (although it's also been pointed out that the iPod touch is thinner than the iPhone 6s and does have a headphone port).
iPhone 7 Plus design: Headphone port
Multiple insider sources and supply chain leaks agree that the iPhone 7 won't have a headphone port. We don't know this for sure, but it's perhaps the most consistently repeated rumour we've known in the lead up to an iPhone launch.
It's a widespread rumour, but not a popular one. People already own headphones, in most cases based on the 3.5mm standard, and don't much like the idea of having to buy a new set (whether Lightning-based or wireless) to fit the iPhone 7 handsets. Neither do they much fancy shelling out for an adaptor. So disgruntled have Apple fans got about the headphone rumour that a petition has been set up to ask Apple to reconsider. At time of writing, more than 300,000 people have signed.
Apple could sweeten the deal by bundling the adaptor with the phone, as some have predicted, and the move may turn out to be wiser than it seems right now: Apple has a strong track record of dropping support for a tech standard just before it becomes irrelevant. Apple's users often find that they maybe didn't need that optical drive after all.
Still, it's hard to shake the feeling that more would be lost than gained by removing the headphone port.
iPhone 7 Plus design: Home button
A second widespread rumour holds that the home button on the iPhone is either going to be substantially redesigned or removed entirely.
Piper Jaffrey analyst Gene Munster has suggested that the iPhone 7 won't have a Home button, and that the Touch ID sensor will be built into the screen itself.
But Apple may instead keep the Home button but modify it. One possibility is that it will change the button from a moving to a non-moving part, equipping it instead with the haptic technology from the MacBook's Force Touch trackpad; in other words, it would 'buzz' when you apply pressure to simulate a downward press, while in actual fact not moving at all.
iPhone 7 Plus preview: Features
What new features can we expect from the iPhone 7 Plus?
iPhone 7 Plus new features: Smart connector
Leaked schematics of the iPhone 7 Plus suggest it will be equipped with a three-point Smart Connector, much like the 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch versions of the iPad Pro. (But unlike those devices, which both have the Smart Connector on the lefthand edge when using them in portrait orientation, the iPhone 7 is expected to have it near the bottom of the back surface.)
A Smart Connector would enable the iPhone 7 Plus to be used with charging/speaker docks and possibly even keyboards: although, while the Plus has a big screen for a smartphone, it's still hard to imagine it functioning efficiently as a work device.
You can read about the Smart Keyboard, which connects to the Smart Connector on the iPad Pro, in our Smart Keyboard review. But at this point it's impossible to know what kinds of accessories will be released for the new iPhone 7 Plus.
iPhone 7 Plus new features: Wireless charging
It's a rumour we've heard many times before, but wireless charging could be a reality for this generation of iPhone handsets.
As iMore explains, inductive charging wasn't a practical option for iPhone models in the past because technology at the time was unable to transmit power through an aluminium backplate (the Apple Watch, which was launched with wireless charging in 2015, has a ceramic back). But this could all change. In July 2015 Qualcomm announced wireless charging tech that does work through metal. This came too late for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, but the technology may appear in a subsequent generation of Apple smartphone.
iPhone 7 Plus new features: Waterproofing
It's been claimed on the Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo that Apple is testing out waterproof designs for the iPhone 7.
And when we say waterproofing, we mean proper, offically certified waterproofing. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are actually pretty good at dealing with submersion, as some brave early buyers discovered; but this was never publicised as a feature when the devices were launched.
iPhone 7 Plus preview: Screen
There are two principle areas where the Plus-sized iPhone differs from its regular-sized baby brother: sheer size (of both screen and overall chassis), and battery capacity. Let's start with the screen; we'll talk about batteries in the tech specs section.
The iPhone 7 Plus, as the successor to the iPhone 6s Plus, will have a big screen, and we'd be surprised if Apple moves away from the popular 5.5-inch phablet form factor that's been a popular choice for the 6 Plus and 6s Plus.
We find it a shade too large for our tastes (the 6s Plus stretches the seams of our slim-fit trouser pockets…), but Apple has at least addressed potential problems using such a big-screen device one-handed with a feature called Reachability, which compresses the screen downwards when you double-tap the Home button. Interface touches like that are key to Apple's appeal.
The 6s Plus has a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080, and a pixel density of 401 pixels per inch (ppi): the highest of any Apple product. And while rival manufacturers have gone considerably higher still - Samsung's Galaxy S7 has an astonishing 577ppi - it's debatable whether the human eye is capable of getting much from densities above 400ppi. At this point it's about spec boasting more than appreciable differences in the user experience.
iPhone 7 Plus preview: Camera
It's widely expected that the iPhone 7 Plus will come with a dual-lens camera setup on the back, but that there will be no such upgrade for the iPhone 7.
This broadly fits with Apple's past behaviour, since the company generally likes to set apart its top-of-the-line phone with at least one feature that isn't available on any other - and it's often something in the photographic line, such as optical image stabilisation. But this would be the first time a Plus-branded iPhone has had such a conspicuous physical advantage over its smaller cousin.
A dual-lens camera offers a number of benefits. One is post-shot refocusing - if you get a photo slightly off, it's possible to alter the focus later using the combined data from both lenses. The iPhone 7 Plus may also feature two different lenses, with one better at capturing colour in strong light and the other specialising in low-light conditions.
The iPhone 7 Plus's camera setup may also get a megapixel bump, and it's possible Apple will add an optical zoom to provide DSLR-quality images.
iPhone 7 Plus preview: Other tech specs
We mentioned earlier that Apple doesn't worry too much about having the best specs on the market. Nevertheless, the iPhone 7 Plus will have the best tech specs of any iPhone yet released - it's the top of the line, after all.
Here are a few highlights of the tech specs we're expecting.
iPhone 7 Plus tech specs: Battery life
Thanks to its larger chassis, the iPhone 6s Plus and the 6 Plus before it were both able to squeeze in larger-capacity battery units than their non-Plus equivalents - and these larger batteries were able to more than compensate for the additional power requirements of a larger screen with far more pixels, resulting in higher battery life than any other iPhones. The iPhone 6s Plus is good for about 12 hours of unplugged web surfing, compared to roughly 10 hours with the iPhone 6s.
Battery life is professedly a hot-button issue for many smartphone buyers, but comments by senior Apple staff make us sense that the company is happy with what it's offering at the moment - particularly for the Plus models - and doesn't intend to make any great sacrifices in order to significantly increase battery life. (And sacrifices would be called for: whether in terms of a larger and heavier device, a higher price tag, a lower-res screen and so on.)
We mentioned earlier that the iPhone 7 Plus isn't expected to include a headphone port, however, and this removal may allow Apple to fit a slightly larger battery cell - and this, coupled with continued optimisations introduced at a software level, may result in a small increase in battery life.
iPhone 7 Plus tech specs: Processor
The iPhone 6s Plus (and the iPhone 6s, for that matter) comes with a proprietary design A9 processor chip with an M9 motion co-processor. It doesn't take a genius to predict that the iPhone 7 Plus will therefore include an A10.
What that means in terms of actual speed is less clear.
The iPhone 6 Plus's A8 processor turned out, when the device was torn down, to be a 1.4GHz dual-core 64-bit chip; the iPhone 6s Plus's A9 was a 1.85GHz dual-core 64-bit component.
These kind of specs pale in comparison with rival phablets - the Galaxy S6 had two quad-core CPUs, one rated at 2.1GHz and the other at 1.5GHz Cortex - but the iPhone 7 Plus, even if it features only small improvements in speed on its predecessor, will be comfortably capable of running anything on the App Store with ease.
iPhone 7 Plus tech specs: RAM
The 6s Plus has 2GB of RAM - a relatively stingy allocation for a top-end smartphone. But that only recently increased from the 1GB of RAM in the iPhone 6 Plus, so another bump is fairly unlikely this time around.
iPhone 7 Plus tech specs: Storage
The iPhone 6s Plus is available with 16GB, 64GB or 128GB of flash storage, but it's been the case for several generations now that 16GB simply isn't enough for a happy user experience: you find yourself constantly having to delete apps and prune your photo collection, and you may have to manage without keeping music on the device at all.
For this reason we're optimistic that Apple is finally about to kill off the 16GB storage tier. Expect the iPhone 7 Plus to be available with 32GB, 64GB or 128GB, or perhaps even 32GB, 128GB and 256GB.
iPhone 7 Plus preview: Price and release date
The iPhone 7 Plus will be announced next month. We're given to understand that it the launch event will take place on 7 September 2016, followed by the device going on sale on 16 September.
The iPhone 7 Plus will probably hit the market at the same pricing as its predecessor (the iPhone 6s Plus, if it remains on sale, will get a nice fat price cut). In other words:
£619 (16GB)
£699 (64GB)
£789 (128GB)
This assumes, of course, that Apple will keep the same storage options, which is by no means certain; 16GB has been looking undercooked for a couple of iPhone generations now, and we'd like to see the back of it. But even if Apple does move up to a tier system of 32GB, 64GB and 128GB - or even 32GB, 128GB and 256GB - we'd still expect something close to the prices above. Storage is generally felt to be a cheap upgrade for the manufacturer.
The iPhone 7 Plus will be available for direct purchase through Apple's online store.
Colour options
The iPhone 7 will most likely be available in gold, silver, Space Grey (black) and Rose Gold (pink). Some pundits, however, think Apple is going to offer something new, with a Deep Blue option added to the mix (or possibly replacing Space Grey entirely).
Blue is a popular choice among Samsung fans, but getting rid of the classic black finish? That would be controversial.
More conservatively, others reckon Apple will replace Space Grey, not with Deep Blue but with 'Space Black' - essentially a rebranding exercise to bring it in line with the Apple Watch's terminology.
OUR VERDICT
Lots of details have been leaked, but nothing is officially known yet about the iPhone 7 Plus - so it's obviously far too early for any kind of verdict. Check back next month for full details, specs, UK pricing and more for the iPhone 7 Plus, and our full review and definitive review once we've spent some hands-on time with review samples.
