How much will the iPhone 7 cost and when can you preorder? ( iOS Assistance )

How much will the iPhone 7 cost and when can you preorder?

The 32GB capacity iPhone 7 starts at $649 full retail, which converts to £487 and AU$846. You're looking at starting at $32.41 per month with the iPhone Upgrade Program for the base model. We'll update with more pricing details soon.

iPhone 7 prices

COMPARISON SHOPPING

Model	Size	US	UK	AU
iPhone 7	32GB	$649	£599	AU$1,079
	128GB	$749	£699	AU$1,229
	256GB	$849	£799	AU$1,379
iPhone 7 Plus	32GB	$769	£719	AU$1,269
	128GB	$869	£819	AU$1,419
	256GB	$969	£919	AU$1,569

If you signed up for the iPhone Upgrade plan, you're eligible for the new phone as part of the program. Good news for people living in the UK and China: you'll now be able to sign up, too (it was previously US-only).

You can preorder both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus this Friday, September 9, and phones will be available September 16. (iOS 10 becomes available on September 13 for everyone else who's ready to upgrade).

Tell me more about that new camera

Although Apple keeps the megapixel size steady at 12, the increased aperture (now f1.8) lens promises to let in 50 percent more light through the six-element lens. That's better for all photos, and also low-light photography, which Apple emphasized. Low-light is one of the most important battlegrounds for mobile photography, especially as phone owners increasingly take to social networks like Instagram to post pictures from every environment.

More from Apple's event

1. Apple's AirPods may look weird, but they'll change the headphone market
2. iPhone 7 Plus ups photo ante with 2 rear cameras
3. Super Mario is coming to iPhone at last
4. iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, Watch Series 2: Everything you need to know about Apple's announcements
5. Full coverage of Apple's event

Add to this a new image processing chip and faster photo-taking will help Apple step up to high-end Samsung, Sony, LG and Huawei phones that boast brighter low-light photos and much more manual control. Apple's camera app seems to retain its more pared-down design.

Optical image stabilization, or OIS, is also huge here. Last year's iPhone 6S Plus was the only phone to have it. This time Apple blesses the iPhone 7 with OIS, which should make for crisper images even if your hands jiggle a bit while you're taking it.

Finally, a new quad-LED flash (up from a dual-LED flash) will make flash brighter, but hopefully with more natural tones that don't blow out the scene. The iPhone 7 still supports Live Photos (basically a 3-second video clip) and introduces RAW image support (thanks, iOS 10).

These are all welcome upgrades. Just keep in mind that the iPhone 7 Plus has another camera trick up its sleeve with dual lenses enabling better zoom and depth of field effects.

Enough to upgrade?

Who knows yet. Hands-on, the 7 feels a lot like the 6S (and the 6). But the key updates to battery, faster performance, water resistance and camera could make a difference.

Apple iPhone 7 is here with a water-resistant body, better cameras, 256GB capacity -- and no headphone jack (hands-on) ( iOS Assistance )

Jet-black Apple iPhone 7 is here with a water-resistant body, better cameras, 256GB capacity -- and no headphone jack (hands-on)

After months of rumors, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are here in the flesh! Apple announced both today at its launch event in San Francisco.

If you always wanted water resistance and better battery life on your iPhone, you're going to be happy. If you wanted a headphone jack, you'll be sad.

Feels the same, with tweaks (and a funky home button)

We got to use one hands-on for a few minutes after Apple's event.

Obviously, you can't appreciate water resistance in a demo room (at least, not Apple's demo room). But the iPhone 7 seems like a bunch of upgrades -- some of which iPhone users have wanted for a while.

Did we mention no headphone jack? Yes, it's weird. Also, the home button being a solid-state Force Touch-like panel means it doesn't quite have the same feel. It took some getting used to.

Jet black, Apple's new glossy black color iPhone, looks beautiful. It turns the iPhone into a slim black obelisk. But it also might be a bit of a smudge magnet.

Here are the most important things you need to know about the iPhone 7:

• Size and feel: The iPhone 7 feels pretty much the same as the iPhone 6S, with the same 4.7-inch screen. Apple says the "HD Retina display" is 25 percent brighter than last year's model. It includes the pressure-sensitive 3D Touch layer that buzzes slightly when you press and hold the screen.

• Static home button: The home button is now solid state, which means you can't physically press or click it in -- kind of like the Motorola Moto Z and OnePlus 3. It's pressure-sensitive, including "taptic feedback", which just means that apps can give you three levels of pressure and haptic feedback, like a light or strong buzz. It doesn't feel like a button and definitely takes getting used to, but so far it seems to get the job done.

• Water-resistant: Yes, Virginia, it will be water-resistant (IP67), like several Samsung and Sonyphones (IP68). Cannonballlll!

• No headphone jack: It's gone. Really. Instead, Apple's new EarPods headphones will connect through the Lightning connector port; you'll also get an adaptor in the box. Apple's also pushing new, funky-looking AirPods headset connects wirelessly through auto-pairing. These worked pretty well, actually, and sounded pretty good in a the loud demo room.

• New camera: The iPhone 7 keeps the 12-megapixel camera, but adds a larger aperture and -- this is a big deal -- optical image stabilization that keeps images steadier. We do notice that the camera sticks out more from the back. (The iPhone 7 Plus gets a second, 56mm telephoto lens on the back that works like a built-in zoom feature. Phones like the LG V20, Huawei P9 and Huawei Honor 8 have two cameras, too.) We have lots more detail below.

Enlarge Image

That home button doesn't click in.James Martin/CNET

• New front-facing camera: The iPhone 7's 7-megapixel front-facing camera leaps up from 5 megapixels on theiPhone 6S, and includes auto-image stabilization (but not optical image stabilization).

• Stereo speakers: A second speaker joins the iPhone to give you stereo speakers. There's now one at the bottom and one at the top (this is brand-new for Apple).

• Longer battery life: Greater battery capacity for longer battery life. Apple estimates 12 hours of LTE browsing (the iPhone 7 Plus should clock about two more hours). Apple notoriously never tells us what the capacity is.

• Faster processor: The iPhone 7's new A10 Fusion chip is a 64-bit, quad-core processor that Apple says is 40 percent faster than last year's A9 processor. Two cores are high-performance, the other two are "high efficiency," which means they'll conserve battery while handling tasks. Take-away message: deeper visual graphics, especially with gaming. (Did we mention that Super Mario is coming to the iPhone?!?!)

• More storage!: 32GB, 128GB, 256GB capacities

• Colors: Glossy jet black, matte black, gold, silver, rose gold (P.S.: New jet black is only available in 128GB and 256GB models.)

Apple iPhone 7 ( iOS Assistance )

Apple iPhone 7

 Apple announced the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in what can only be described as the most-telegraphed Apple event of all time. And that’s too bad, really: Apple rumors are a big deal for some reason, but it’s astonishing that every single iPhone 7 feature was leaked previous to this event.

Two models, as before. As with the other members of the iPhone 6 family, the iPhone 7 will come in two versions, the iPhone 7, with a 4.7-inch screen, and the iPhone 7 Plus, with a 5.5-inch screen.

Three storage configurations. As with the previous two iPhone 6 lineups, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus each come in three memory configurations. But this year, finally and belatedly, Apple has doubled each, to 32 GB, 128 GB, and 64 GB. That is most welcome. (And it has likewise kept the year-old iPhone 6S and 6S Plus products around at a lower price, but has doubled the storage offered on those devices too. Almost most welcome.)

Four colors. Apple is subtly changing the colors offered this year, with a high-gloss (and scratch-tastic) jet black, a more typical matter black, silver, gold, and rose gold. This is one area where the rumors failed us: We had expected a dark blue color as well.

Stereo speakers. Belatedly, Apple has introduced stereo speakers which appear to work similarly to the speakers on other smartphones (including my Google Nexus 6P). This should be a big improvement over all previous iPhones, which offered just a single mono speaker at the base

No analog headphone port. As rumored, Apple has dropped the headphone port, and is instead providing Lightning connector-based EarPods headphones plus a Lightning-to-headphone dongle for you Luddites. (Apple separately announced new wireless AirPods headphones too, but given the high price ($160) and paltry 5 hours of battery life, I’ll be ignoring these.)

Improved display. Apple did not change the resolutions of the iPhone 7 (1334 x 750) or iPhone 7 Plus (1920 x 1080), nor did it add the True Tone display technology found in the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, as some had expected. But the new iPhones feature brighter screens with a wider color gamut and wider viewing angles than before.

Redesigned Home button. Apple describes the iPhone 7 Home button as being “all-new,” with a solid-state design that is backed by the new Taptic Engine in the device for “more precise and customizable tactile feedback”.

Cameras. Here is where things get truly interesting. The iPhone 7 features a 12 MP rear-facing camera with an ƒ/1.8 aperture, optical image stabilization, a six‑element lens and quad-LED True Tone flash. This looks impressive. But the iPhone 7 Plus takes things to 11 withdual cameras—a 12 MP wide-angle camera and a 12 MP telephoto camera—that offer 2X optical zoom (a first for any iPhone) capabilities. And a coming update in late 2016 will add a new depth-of-field effect that will make for incredible portrait shots.

Processing power. As you should expect, the iPhone 7 is the fastest iPhone yet, thanks to its Apple A10 Fusion processor, which offers a 64-bit architecture and four processor cores.

iOS 10. No confusion here, but the iPhone 7 will ship with iOS 10, the latest release of Apple’s mobile OS.

Accessories. New leather and silicone cases for iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are now available, as is an iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case (in black or white). New Lightning Docks in several color-matched metallic finishes will also be available soon.

Same pricing structure as before. Apple’s not raising prices, which isn’t surprising. (But it’s also not lowering prices.) So the entry-level 32 GB iPhone 7 will cost $649 here in the US with the other models costing $749 and $849. The iPhone 7 Plus models will cost $769, $869, and $969.

When? You can preorder the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus on September 9, and the devices will become available for sale on September 16.

As you may recall, I declined to review the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, describing them as “review-proof” products. The iPhone 7 is no less review-proof, but given my personal interest in the camera technology, I think I will be reviewing this one. At the very least, I’ll write about my experiences with the iPhone 7 Plus camera.

More soon.

iPhone 7 features [video] Apple's new phone ( iOS Assistance )

iPhone 7 Rumour Round-up

iPhone 7 release date, price and features rumours ( iOS Assistance )

iPhone 7 release date, price and features rumours: Everything we know about Apple's new phone.

A purported leaked image of the next generation of Apple's iPhone

•  Emeka Austin

3 SEPTEMBER 2016 • 3:53PM

Apple is preparing for the release the next generation of the iPhone at its annual event in San Francisco this September. Each year the Silicon Valley giant unveils a raft of new products in the Autumn, which can include new iPad, MacBook and Apple Watch models.

At the launch event next month, the company is expected to unveil an upgraded iPhone that, while aesthetically similar to the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, could have several big differences, including a pressure-sensitive home button, better camera, power and battery life, as well as having no headphone jack.

What will it be called?

Reports have claimed that the upcoming iPhone could either be called the "iPhone 7" or "iPhone 6se". As the latest handset is expected to feature smaller, iterative changes rather than a radical redesignanalysts have speculated that Apple could save the name iPhone 7 for next year's 10 year anniversary release, and instead call this one the iPhone 6se.
The suggestion is in line with the launch of the iPhone SE in March, which was an upgraded version of the iPhone 5s. The big changes Apple is rumoured to be saving for the 2017 iPhone include that it could be made entirely from glass and have an edge-to-edge display with an OLED screen, a significant step forward from the LCD screens the company currently uses. 

Separate rumours have suggested that Apple could release two 5.5-inch versions of the iPhone in September, one with a dual-lens camera that will be called the "iPhone Pro". 

What new features will it have?

The most significant changes anticipated for the new phone include an upgraded camera, the introduction of a pressure-sensitive home button and the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack.

The bigger "Plus" model is expected to have an even-more powerful "dual lens" camera, and possibly a smart connector that allows accessories such as keyboards to be attached to it.

Killing the headphone jack

Rumours have consistently indicated that Apple will rid the iPhone of the headphone jack, instead shipping the phone with a pair of Lightning EarPods or wireless "AirPod" headphones, featuring Bluetooth or some other wireless standard.

It is likely to be a controversial move, although Apple has faced opposition over changes before, such as when it introduced the lightning connector with the iPhone 5 in 2012. Apple is likely to unveil an adapter that will allow typical wired headphones to be used.

Upgraded camera

While we don't yet have any more details about the camera other than its larger appearance, it could have better low-light capabilities and take even sharper photos.

The 5.5-inch version of the handset could also come with a dual-lens camera, according to some leaked images. This could allow a huge increase in quality, with a second zoomed-in lens able to focus on important parts of the picture.

Pressure-sensitive home button

According to Bloomberg, the iPhone maker could replace the home button with a pressure-sensitive one that works like the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus' "3D Touch" display. 

Rather than being a switch that users have to physically press, the all-new button could use haptic feedback, which would allow Apple to make the phone bigger.

The forthcoming phone will most likely have a bigger battery than its predecessors and could feature a major upgrade to its specifications, giving the phone a big speed boost. There have also been suggestions the phone could feature faster charging technology.

There are also indications in the beta version of iOS 10, the software the phone will ship with, that it could be more water resistant.

When will it be released? 

Apple has confirmed the date for its annual product launch event on September 7.

Apple's invitation to members of the media for its annual product launch event CREDIT: APPLE

In the past two years Apple has released its new phones to the public a few weeks after unveiling them in the second week of September.