The iPhone 7 has just been announced, and the internet is abuzz with one major question: is it worth it? As we’re now on the seventh major iteration of the iPhone, we know that these upgrade generations are nothing new, but we typically see many more changes than the ones that the 7 is offering. However, while the changes are few, they are major… though some of them aren’t really welcomed, making the question “is it worth it?” a little tough to answer. Let’s give it a shot anyway:
Pro: The iPhone is Now Waterproof
It’s a story you’ve heard countless times and may have experienced yourself- dropping a $600 phone in a puddle, or the toilet, or the pool, or the sink… the fact is, iPhones and water have never really mixed well- until now. Apple has finally made the iPhone waterproof so that no matter what happens when you’re around a body of water, you don’t have to worry about ruining your phone and your day in one fell swoop.
Con: There’s no Headphone Jack
That’s right, the 3.5mm headphone jack that’s been a staple of almost every personal computing device from the GameBoy to high-end gaming computers is gone. The iPhone 7 will come with a pair of headphones that connects to the Lightning port, but then you can go ahead and forget about using headphones and charging the phone at the same time. If you want that luxury, you’ll have to buy a pair Apple’s AirPod wireless headphones, which will retail for $159 extra.
Pro: The Camera is Amazing
The camera is one of the most widely used features of the iPhone, and Apple is upgrading the one that comes with the 7 in a major way… by adding another one. That’s right, the iPhone 7 will use two cameras on the back, one with a telephoto lens and one with a wide angle lens. This will allow you to use optical zoom instead of digital and even take one picture with both lenses, which the iPhone will then stitch together and give you a picture unlike anything you’ve ever seen on an iPhone before.
Con: Bigger Changes are Likely Coming Soon
The 10th anniversary of the iPhone is coming very soon, and experts all around the world are claiming that Apple is going to do something major to celebrate the anniversary. This will likely be a new model combining all of the best features of past iPhones and adding more revolutionary changes than we’ve ever seen before. The biggest rumors are that this iPhone will feature a curved screen and no home button, instead putting a fingerprint reader directly on the screen. Knowing this, it doesn’t really make sense to upgrade to an only slightly-better iPhone now when something game changing is due to hit stores next year.
The Verdict
If you have the money and you use your iPhone for pictures more than anything else, the upgrade might be worth it, especially since the base model comes with 32Gb of memory (meaning you won’t have to start deleting all of those pictures so soon). If your iPhone 6 or 6s does everything you need it to already, you’re probably better off waiting to upgrade. The hardware improvements aren’t significant enough and the lack of a headphone jack is a big annoyance to justify spending what will likely be an exorbitant amount on the iPhone 7.
