Apple launches used to be full of surprises but the September special event was predicable. Nevertheless, it does mean that there are two new iPhones so start pondering your upgrade options with all the details you could need on the iPhone 7 Plus release date, price and specs. Both phones are available to buy now.
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Updated 13 September to include camera details .
You can buy both the iPhone 7 models now.
Apple also confirmed that iOS 10 will be available for existing iPhone users from 13 September .
Just like any other iPhone, the iPhone 7 price depends on which storage model you want and there are a few to choose from. Prices start at the same as the iPhone 6S Plus at launch which is $769. That’s in dollars but in Sterling it’s more expensive at £719. That’s a whopping price increase of £100.
You can buy the iPhone 7 Plus from major mobile networks Three, EE, Vodafone and O2.
There are still three storage capacities available but this time around they are 32-, 128 and 256GB which is double across the board. Check out the table below for full iPhone 7 Plus pricing. One thing to note is that the Jet Black model only comes in the larger two storage options — cheeky.
Below are the cheapest iPhone 7 Plus contract deals. Choose the capacity and colour of the iPhone 7 Plus you want to buy, and adjust the amount of minutes, texts and data to suit your preferences. If you already know which carrier you want to buy from or intend to buy SIM-free, read on.
Click here to pre-order the iPhone 7 Plus direct from Apple.
Click here to pre-order the iPhone 7 Plus from Carphone Warehouse .
Click here to pre-order the iPhone 7 Plus from EE .
Click here to pre-order the iPhone 7 Plus from Mobile Phones Direct .
Click here to pre-order the iPhone 7 Plus from Mobiles.co.uk .
Click here to pre-order the iPhone 7 Plus from O2 .
Click here to pre-order the iPhone 7 Plus from Tesco Mobile .
Click here to pre-order the iPhone 7 Plus from Three .
Click here to pre-order the iPhone 7 Plus from Virgin .
Click here to pre-order the iPhone 7 Plus from Vodafone .
Although we’re really looking forward to next year’s anniversary iPhone 8, Apple has done it’s best to bring new features to the iPhone 7 to fill the gap and tempt existing users to upgrade rather than hold on. And it’s the iPhone 7 Plus which is the more alluring of the two new phones.
To begin with the key new features, the iPhone 7 Plus is water-resistant, has stereo speakers and longer battery life. The main reason to buy the larger model is the dual-camera technology on the back.
The iPhone 7 phones have what Apple calls a ‘new design’. Although it looks pretty similar to us beyond the new colours. There are five colours to choose from: Gold, Silver, Rose Gold, Black and Jet Black (glossy). It’s no thinner at 7.3mm but is slightly lighter at 188g.
New process allows for high-gloss ‘Jet Black’ finish. The camera housing is machined from the piece of metal as the main body and the antenna is internal so the outside appears uninterrupted. The aluminium and glass are seamless.
The iPhone 7 design is “The most singular, the most evolved of this singular design”, says Jonny Ive.
The dual-cameras consist of one wide-angle 28mm lens (the same as on the iPhone 7) and one telephoto (56mm lens). When you switch to the latter you get an optical zoom of x2 which can then be increased to up to x10, although it’s digital after x2.
The new camera is 2x12Mp with an f/1.8 aperture, OIS (optical image stabilisation, also on the regular iPhone 7), six-element lens. Apple says it’s 60 percent faster 30 percent more efficient. The True Tone flash now has four LEDs with 50 percent more light and has a larger reach.
At the front is a 7Mp FaceTime HD camera which includes wide colour capture and auto image stabilisation. Handling features such as white balance, focus, noise reduction and the like is Apple’s custom ISP.
It has also been discovered by Reddit user /u/ImKuya that the iPhone 7 Plus houses a wide-angle camera with a 1/3in sensor and another camera with a slightly smaller 1/3.6in sensor. ImKuya worked it out by doing some maths on data pulled from EXIF data (reveals details about a photo) taken from a Sports Illustrated picture.
Rumours about the home button were correct and it’s no long a push and click style. It’s been redesigned to be more responsive, reliable and customisable. It’s now a sold state force sensitive button with a new Taptic engine for feedback.
Going back to the water-resistancy and the iPhone 7 Plus is IP67 rated which means you can fully dunk it. Why Apple hadn’t called it waterproof, then, is a mystery. The rating means it’s fully dust proof and can be submerged into up to one meter of water for up to 30 minutes.
Do note, however, that liquid damage is not covered in the warranty.
For the first time, the iPhone 7 Plus has stereo speakers — namely in landscape orientation and they have increased dynamic range. That’s all Apple had to say about that.
Apple has finally confirmed that the iPhone’s headphone jack is gone. The phone now just has the Lightning port as a connector which is used for both power and headphones. The new EarPods are included and have Lighting but for those who want to carry on using existing or traditional earphones then Apple will also supply an adapter in the box.
Despite lots of negative reactions to the rumours on the subject, Apple said it’s is doing so because of ‘courage’.
Apple has also announced wireless AirPods. IR sensors know when they’re in your ears and accelerometer sensors know when you’re talking. External mics eanble noise reduction and they also have touch sensitive controls. The firm touts 5 hours of battery life with a further 24 hours from the wireless case.
The Apple AirPods price is £159/$159.
It wasn’t hard to predict, apart from the Fusion part of the name, but the iPhone 7 Plus has Apple’s new A10 processor which is calls the most powerful smartphone processor in the world.
The 64-bit chip has a quad-core CPU with two for high power and two for efficiency. Something we’ve seen for a long time in rival Android smartphones. Apple says there’s also a performance controller for managing which cores are used for what.
The A10 Fusion is 40 percent faster than the A9 and twice as fast compared to the A8. It’s 120x the original iPhone.
On the GPU front the new six-core chip is 50 percent faster than A9 with two thirds the power and three times faster than the A8 with half the power. That’s 240x the original iPhone.
On the battery life, despite making a big deal of it, the iPhone 7 Plus will give the average user just one extra hour of battery life compare to the 6S Plus.
Some thing on the iPhone 7 Plus have stayed the same when you compare it to its predecessor, the iPhone 6S Plus. For example, the screen remains at 5.5in and a Full HD resolution (1080 x 1920). It is 25 percent brighter, though, and also features wide colour gamut and, of course, 3D Touch.
The iPhone 7 Plus still has NFC (near field communication) but it is still limited to Apple Pay usage only. Apple confirmed at the launch that Apple Pay will launch in Japan in October.
iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus summary
• Two models: iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
• Five colours: Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, Black and Jet Black (glossy)
• Three storage sizes: 32/128/256GB
• Dual-lens: 12Mp sensors, wide-angle and telephoto on Plus model
• TrueTone: A total of four LEDs for the flash – two warm, two cool
• Water-resistant: IP67 rating
• Touch home button: Non-push with haptic feedback, partly to permit water resistance
• No headphone jack: Will ship with Lightning EarPods and 3.5mm adapter
• New processor: Apple A10 Fusion
• Better screen: Same sizes but same colour gamut as iPad Pro 9.7
• Stereo sound: The ear-piece will be a proper speaker providing stereo in landscape
After the break you’ll find our rumour round-up coverage from before the official launch event. Here you can see what leaked information was correct and which was false.
Below are the rumours we shared ahead of Apple’s official unveiling of the iPhone 7 Plus.
Despite no mention of a blue colour from Kuo above, MobileFun has received ‘confirmed reports’ of a lighter blue option for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
