Tim Cook unveiled the iPhone 7 alongside the iPhone 7 Plus and the Apple Watch: Series 2 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on 7th September.
While the pricing of the entry level 32GB model of the iPhone 7 was revealed on 7th September itself, the pricing of the iPhone 7 Plus and the rest of the storage configurations of the iPhone 7 was finally revealed by Apple on their Indian website yesterday.
Apple has finally ditched the 16GB base model and has doubled the storage of all the other models as well. This move was long, long overdue.
Starting at Rs 60,000 and Rs 72,000
The iPhone 7 starts at Rs 60,000 for the 32GB base variant while the iPhone 7 Plus's 32GB model has been priced at Rs 72,000.
The 128GB variant of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus costs Rs 70,000, and Rs 82,000 respectively, while the 256GB variant of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus clocks in at a whopping Rs 80,000 and Rs 92,000.
Both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will go on sale in India on October 7.
Massive price cuts for the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus
Apple has also drastically reduced the price of some variants of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, while at the same time doubling their base storage configuration from 16GB to 32GB. The 64GB model has been discontinued and the 128GB model slots in above the 32GB model in the lineup.
Thus now the 32GB model of the iPhone 6S costs Rs 50,000 and the 128GB model is priced at Rs 60,000, a whopping 22,000 rupees cheaper than before.
The 32GB model of the iPhone 6S Plus has been priced at Rs 60,000, which is the same price as the 32GB model of the iPhone 7. Thus one can choose between either a larger screen or the latest and greatest iPhone, albeit with a smaller screen. The 128GB model of the iPhone 6S costs Rs 72,00, which is again a mammoth 22,000 rupees cheaper than before.
Thus, in a nutshell, the prices of the 128GB models of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S have been slashed massively, the 64GB model has been dropped and you now get 32GB of internal storage for the same price at which you got 16GB before.
The iPhone SE also gets some love
The odd duck in the iPhone lineup, the iPhone SE has also seen a price cut, though not at the same level as the iPhone 6 and 6S. Its price has been reduced from Rs 49,000 to Rs 44,000 for the 64GB variant and the new 32GB variant has been priced at Rs 39,000. Sadly, even with these priced cuts, the iPhone SE remains massively overpriced in India. (It costs just 449 dollars in USA, which roughly translates to about 30,000 rupees).
Here is the pricing of the entire iPhone range in India:
32GB : Rs 60,000
128GB : Rs 70,000
256GB : Rs 80,000
32GB : Rs 72,000
128GB : Rs 82,000
256GB : Rs 92,000
iPhone 6S
32GB : Rs 50,000
128GB : Rs 60,000
iPhone 6S Plus
32GB : Rs 60,000
128GB : Rs 70,000
iPhone SE
32GB : Rs 39,000
64GB : Rs 44,000
Here is a recap of all that's new in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus to help you decide whether the devices are worth your hard earned cash:
Design
Apple's latest spin on the iPhone rocks an aluminum body, much like the iPhone 6S.
The ugly antenna lines are a thing of the past now with Integrated Antennas and the iPhone 7/ iPhone 7 Plus also come with a new 'Jet Black' finish that looks incredibly suave.
Other colours on offer are the standard Gold, Silver, Rose Gold and another shade of black simply titled 'Black'.
The Jet Black finish is only available for the pricier 128GB and 256GB models.
Cameras
iPhone 7
The Camera on the iPhone 7 received a complete overhaul and now comes with a new 6-element lens, a wider aperture of f/1.8 that absorbs 50 per cent more light, and an all new high speed 12-megapixel sensor that is 60 per cent faster than the iPhone 6S.
The device also features a Quad-LED True Tone Flash, a flicker sensor and an Apple designed image signal processor that uses machine learning to look for bodies and objects in the image and then adjusts the photos by choosing the best exposure and white balance.
iPhone 7 Plus
The iPhone 7 Plus takes things up a notch and comes with not just 1, but two 12 MP cameras! The above details are of the primary wide angle lens, but the device also comes with a secondary Telephoto lens. These two together dramatically improve Zoom capabilities on the iPhone 7 Plus.
With the dual camera setup, you get a 2X optical zoom plus a 10X digital zoom, which Apple claims is better than digital zoom on most smartphones thanks to the second telephoto lens.
The dual camera setup allows for depth of field adjustment. The ISP scans the screen and uses machine learning to create a depth map of the image using the two lenses.
Hardware
A10 Fusion
Apple has upgraded its A-series processor to the A10 Fusion. It's a quad-core setup that is said to be 40% faster than the A9 and two times faster than the A8 seen in the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6, respectively.
Graphics Performance
The GPU looks to triple the performance of the A8 and will be more battery-friendly than previous iterations.
In fact, Apple claimed that the Apple A10 Fusion is 120 times faster than the original iPhone and the GPU is 240 times faster than the original iPhone!
Battery Life
While touching on the battery life, Phil Schiller claimed that the iPhone 7 will have the best battery any iPhone has ever had.
The iPhone 7 will last 2 hours longer than the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 7 Plus will last 1 hour longer than the iPhone 6S Plus.
R.I.P Headphone Jack!
As expected, Apple has done away with the headphone jack, and audio is routed digitally through the lightning port. Apple also launched a new version of the EarPods which connect through the lightning port.
This setup allows audio to be transmitted digitally using the device's lightning port, avoiding the analog conversion that occurs via the traditional 3.5 mm headphone jack entirely.
The removal of a headphone jack, seen as a huge negative is actually a good thing and will be seen as an inspired decision in the long run.
Audio technology has stagnated over the years, still relying on analogue mediums of transmission such as the dated 3.5mm jack. In fact, the 3.5 mm jack has not changes since the 1980's when the Sony Walkman was introduced.
What is great is the fact that Apple will bundle a lightning to 3.5 mm adapter in every iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus box!
IP67 Water/Dust resistance
The iPhone 7 is also the first iPhone to be water-resistant. Now you can finally use your iPhone near a pool or a beach without worrying about expensive repairs.
What is disappointing is the fact that the competition such as the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Xperia Z5 come with IP68 water resistance, which is better than the iPhone 7's IP67.
Brighter Display
The iPhone 7/7 Plus also have a new Retina HD Display, which Apple promises is 25% brighter than the iPhone 6S's display and has a wide colour gamut, supporting Cinema P3 standard colours.
