Apple event: Key highlights of iPhone 7, Apple Watch, iOS 10 and more

iPhone 7 drops 3.5mm headphone jack; Pokemon Go coming on Apple Watch, Super Mario on iOS 10, which will be available from 13 September

Vishal Mathur
Updated8 Sep 2016, 06:42 PM IST
There are expectations that Apple will focus on a mix of hardware and software products, as it refreshes multiple product line-up. Photo: AFP
There are expectations that Apple will focus on a mix of hardware and software products, as it refreshes multiple product line-up. Photo: AFP

The Apple keynote event has started with Tim Cook on stage and we are live from the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco with all the updates and analysis.

#The iOS 10 software is rolling out on 13 September and will be preloaded in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus when they ship in the first wave of countries from 16 September.

There is no word yet on whether India will be in the third wave of countries later this year for the iPhone rollout, though we would still hope to get our hands on the new phones sometime before the festive shopping season of Diwali.

Earlier updates

#iPhone 7 is priced the same as the iPhone 6s ($649), but with double the storage—32GB, 128GB and 256GB. The iPhone 7 Plus is priced at $769 onwards.

Apple stocks were down 0.24% on Wall Street at 14:41 local time.

#The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus get a new A10 Fusion processor. This has two high efficiency cores and two performance cores. Depending on what app you are using, the phone automatically detects how much power is needed, and switches automatically.

Graphics are now more powerful as well, and will enable even better gaming performance as well as multimedia handling.

#The iPhone 7 will not have a 3.5mm headphone jack. The earpods earphones are now updated for the Lightning connector port on the iPhone. For your existing headphones, there will be a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter as well, which will be available with the iPhone as a part of the box pack.

This adds to products made by the likes of JBL and Philips, which are already compatible with the Lightning port for audio output.

Apples is also adding stereo speakers for the first time in the iPhone, and are louder as well, compared to the previous iPhones.

Additionally, Apple says that the iPhone 7 will get Apple AirPods. These wireless earphones use the W1 chip for audio playback and maintain the wireless connection. The infrared sensors detect proximity to the ear, and manage playback. Each earpod can offer as much as 5 hours of battery life each, and there will be a charging case as well for up to 24 hours of music playback.

Apple justifies the removal of the traditional headphone jack by saying that “it takes courage to do something new”, in the words of Phil Shiller. On a more serious note, the main reason is space—more powerful hardware, bigger battery and better speakers would be able to better utilize that space vacated by the jack.

#Apple has improved the display in the iPhone 7 lineup as well. It is now supposedly brighter and can reproduce more colours.

#The dual camera on the iPhone 7 Plus is a combination of two 12-megapixel cameras. One is a wide-angle lens, while one is a telephoto lens, which work in tandem. This will allow further zoom, and better image quality at the same time as well. The software algorithms also work in the background to ensure zoom quality is optimum.

The iPhone 7 Plus’s dual camera will also enable the bokeh effect, another name for depth of field. In such photos, the subject is in focus while the background is blurred, to allow the subject to pop out.

#The first hardware change in the iPhone 7 is the updated home button. Compared to the button click mechanism on the previous iPhones, the home key will now be a force sensitive which works on a Taptic feedback Engine.

The iPhone 7’s camera gets optical image stabilisation as default on both variants. Larger aperture sensor allows more light to the sensor and larger pixels and also consumes lesser battery. There is also a flicker sensor now, which can compensate for flickering induced by artificial lighting in some photos.

Apple has also updated the image signal processor. It uses machine learning to understand the photo scene, and alters the colours and exposure settings, noise reduction and fuses multiple images together.

Apple is now touting the water resistance capabilities in the iPhone 7. Important to remember than even the iPhone 6s and 6s plus did have similar features.

The iPhone 7 has a subtly improved design language. The antennas are integrated, and you no longer see the lines on the back panel.

#The next iPhone is indeed called the iPhone 7. The iPhone 7 gets a high gloss black finish, in addition to the other colour options such as space grey, silver and rose gold. There is a second black colour finish as well, in a matte black look.

#The iOS 10 update is incoming. It brings in a bunch of new features and use ability improvements, including enhanced artificial intelligence that handles contextual predictions and maps can now be used to book reservations as well.

The iMessages app has been revamped as well, both visually as well as in terms of new features such as full screen effects, stickers and even third party apps that can be bolted on.

#The Apple Watch series 2 starts at $369. Available in some countries from 13 Sept. Apple is also updating the processor of the first Apple Watch, and it will now be priced at $269.

Apple is partnering with Nike for the Apple Watch Nike+ edition. You will be able to start exercise routines by activating them using the voice assistant Siri. Nike says that the Watch will also attempt to motivate users who may be slacking off on their workouts.

#The Apple Watch hardware update announced. It is called Apple Watch series 2.

The Apple Watch series 2 will get new finishes as well, in terms of design. The newest addition is the white version.

It is swimproof, and is rated water resistant for 50 meters. The speaker built into the Watch will also be used to eject water, since that was the only part of the watch which could not be isolated by water blocking hardware additions.

The Series 2 also gets a new S2 dual core SiP, new graphics chip for apps to run, the display is 2 times brighter than the first generation Watch and GPS is now built in for tracking fitness routines on a map.

#The Apple Watch the second largest selling watch globally, in the year 2015, just behind Rolex.

The new WatchOS 3 software for the Watch includes instant apps, a dock for quicker app access and new watch faces, improved message handling, custom scribble replies and advanced activity sharing, apart from performance improvements.

#Pokemon Go is coming to the Apple Watch! Cue the cheers!

#Apple is updating the iWork productivity application suite for personal and business use. It continues to be available on Mac OS and iOS devices, as well as through the web browser.

The big new feature is real-time collaboration - multiple users will be able to work on the same document, simultaneously. This was much required, compared to how far behind Apple had fallen compared to rivals such as Google’s Docs and Microsoft’s Office 365. iWork remains free to use.

#Nintendo’s Mario is finally arriving on smartphones, and will be hitting the Apple App Store first. The game is designed for portrait mode gameplay, which allows for single hand gaming.

# First update is on Apple Music. The service now has 17 million active subscribers. With iOS 10, the Music app is getting a refresh, says Cook. And this is also the 10th anniversary of the Apple Music festival, which kicks off in 11 days from now, in London.

Photo: Vishal Mathur

(with inputs from AFP)

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First Published:8 Sep 2016, 06:42 PM IST
Business NewsCompaniesNewsApple event: Key highlights of iPhone 7, Apple Watch, iOS 10 and more

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