NEWS ANALYSIS: The latest version of the iPhone offers some improvements, but at the same price as before. The new features should be useful to business buyers.
Apple has made some bold changes to the latest iteration of the iPhone, but to the relief of most business users, it has retained a pathway to their legacy infrastructure. Of course the new iPhone 7 is faster than earlier iPhones models, has more memory and it has important improvements that users have wanted for years.
While there’s a lot that’s new, the most important changes for people who depend on their phones for their livelihood are water resistance, a more rugged structure and the elimination of the headphone jack. Other important changes include a better camera, a much faster processor and more memory.
It may seem prosaic, but the improved water resistance may be the most critical for most users. The new iPhone 7 meets IP67 standards for water and dust protection.
This means that the phone is completely sealed against dust and that it can be immersed in water as much as a meter deep without damage. For all of those people who have lost communications on a business trip because your phone slipped into a sink or dropped into the toilet you now have a path to salvation.
What’s important about the iPhone’s approach to water resistance is that it doesn’t depend on tiny rubber plugs and caps to maintain its integrity. The iPhone 7 is water resistant on its own.
Apple has also moved to a stronger grade of glass for its screen and it’s eliminated the headphone jack, which both help with the handset’s durability and survivability.
The iPhone will now ship with a headphone that attaches through the Lightening port, and it will include an adapter for people who still have those old-fashioned headphones with a 3.5mm plug. It’s not clear whether devices such as credit card readers that attach using the iPhone analog jack will work with the adapter.
Standard memory is being increased on the iPhone 7 and in an unusual move, the standard memory is also being increased on the iPhone 6S which will remain in production. Now, the smallest memory configuration is 32 gigabytes with options of 128 and 256 GB. Even with the additional memory the starting price of the iPhone 7 remains at $649.
The new display on the iPhone 7 will have the same resolution as what is on the iPhone 6S and it will continue to have 3D Touch. However the new display is said to be 25 percent brighter, it has a wider range of colors and built-in color management. The wider color gamut is paired with the same capability in the new camera.
The camera reflects Apple’s long-standing effort to make photography an important part of their phones.
