How To Decide If You Should Keep Your Old iPhone 6 Or Splurge On An iPhone 7
Apple finally officially announced the new and improved iPhone 7, and it's, well... fine.
They say it's the best iPhone they've ever made, which isn't much of a brag, because honestly why would they make a worse iPhone?
The phone has a bunch of legitimate differences from the previous version of the iPhone. The long-rumored disappearance of the headphone jack happened, along with the introduction of a second camera lens.
The new iPhone 7 will set you back a cool $649. The iPhone 7 Plus will cost a heftier $769. Plus, you can get the AirPods -- headphones that connect without a jack -- for $159.
Obviously that's a lot of money to throw at Apple, so let's go through the major differences, as laid out by video producer Marques Brownlee, to help you decide if it's worth upgrading to the iPhone 7.
I don't really know tech products all that well, but I use an iPhone every five seconds of my life, so I'm thinking about this in the same way you probably are. Here's my analysis:
1. The iPhone 7 has a new design.
1: New design. Jet black, matte black options. Unibody slippery design — Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 7, 2016
Pro-upgrade: If you get the iPhone 7, it'll look sleeker.
Anti-upgrade: You can also just get a new case.
2. It also has a new home button.
2: Redesigned solid state home button with Taptic feedback — Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 7, 2016
So basically the home button will stay in place and you can tap it differently?
Pro-upgrade: No more worrying about the home button breaking, unless you, like, really break it.
Anti-upgrade: A few extra screen taps isn't going to ruin your day.
3. It's water-resistant.
3: Water and dust resistant — Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 7, 2016
Pro-upgrade: #BLESSED.
Anti-upgrade: Or you could just not drop it in the toilet when you're drunk.
4a. The cameras are newer.
4: New 12mp camera, f/1.8 aperture and OIS (in both size phones) New image processing. Raw image capture. 7mp front facing camera — Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 7, 2016
Pro-upgrade: Instas will get so many likes.
Anti-upgrade: You could also just buy a legit camera for $650 if you want to take good pictures that badly.
4b. The iPhone 7 has a second camera.
4: iPhone 7 Plus has a second 12mp camera. DUAL cameras Wide angle 28mm lens Telephoto 56mm lens Can actively switch between them to zoom — Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 7, 2016
Pro-upgrade: More great Instas?
Anti-upgrade: I have literally no idea how using two cameras will be less stressful.
5. The display will be better and brighter.
5: New 25% brighter display with wider color gamut. Same resolution. — Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 7, 2016
Pro-upgrade: The Pokémon Go loading screen will look even better.
Anti-upgrade: You're already ruining your sleep keeping your phone open while you're in bed for an hour each night. Brightness probably won't help matters.
6. It has stereo speakers!
6: Stereo speakers. One on the bottom, one at the top. Twice the volume as before, naturally. — Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 7, 2016
Pro-upgrade: That's actually pretty neat. Sharing music while hanging out with friends will be so much easier.
Anti-upgrade: A glass costs like $625 less than an iPhone 7. I mean, hell, standard dorm speakers cost less than an iPhone 7.
7. Lightning EarPods are a thing?
7: Lightning EarPods. Because we got rid of the headphone jack. — Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 7, 2016
Apple got rid of the earphone jack, so instead the iPhone 7s are going to come with "Lightning" adaptors so you can still use your old headphones, as I understand it.
Also, I think it's the same plug as the one you use to charge your iPhone, so it's unclear if you can listen to headphones and charge your phone at the same time.
Pro-upgrade: More pieces for you to lose!
Anti-upgrade: This does not sound like an upgrade.
8. You can get those crazy AirPod things.
8: Airpods have external mics, wireless charging case, and touch sensitivity on the outside for media controls. Looks like EarPods w/o wires — Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 7, 2016
Pro-upgrade: AirPods will become a status marker.
Anti-upgrade: You will lose these in 15 minutes and then have to pay another $159. Also, they need to be charged every five hours. Yikes.
9. Apple Pay is improving.
9: Apple Pay - more widely international compatibility. — Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 7, 2016
Apple Pay is joining more banks and coming to Japan.
Pro-upgrade: Well, that doesn't really have much to do with the iPhone, right?
Anti-upgrade: See above.
10. Something about battery life being better?
10: New specs. A10 Fusion = 64-bit quad core chip. 40% faster than A9. 2 of the cores are low power, to extend battery life. Hopefully. — Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 7, 2016
OK, so I think this means the battery life might last longer on the iPhone 7?
Pro-upgrade: Live-tweet your life fearlessly.
Anti-upgrade: A portable charger costs way less.
The conclusion:
In my humble, non-techie opinion, upgrading to the iPhone 7 costs more than it's worth, especially with that whole headphone fiasco.
But do you, folks!
