
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Review: Iterating on a Flagship - chetangole
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10685/the-iphone-7-and-iphone-7-plus-review
======
davidf18
Hardware feature table mentions WiFi, but not the LTE modem and radio which is
far more important as LTE has to deal with skyscrapers and buildings with
stone and steel which conveniently block LTE signals, population density, and
spectrum consumption has been dramatically increasing year to year. The unit
has the Qualcomm X12 modem but that modem doesn't cover AWS-3 (Band 66) which
is a very large swath of spectrum, making the phone already obsolete for dense
markets (e.g., large cities).

So, it would be very helpful to see 1) signal improvement, 2) download speed
improvement, 3) improvement in voice quality when listening, 4) improvement on
voice quality when speaking including background cancellation.

For example, something I rarely saw in iPhone 6s(+) reviews was the addition
of a 4th microphone for noise cancellation. I also rarely saw any talk of the
H.265 compression (2 x H.264) for FaceTime Video over cell networks in the 6s.

Last Sat, I was in a Starbucks speaking with a friend who was in a different
Starbucks. I was on the 7+ he on the 5S. I could hear annoying background
noise, he could hear no background noise. These things are critically
important, but it seems as if the reviewers are not using these units in real
world situations.

I think this is because the people doing the reviews don't really have
technical backgrounds. Otherwise, they'd be testing this issues.

EDIT: The modem specs (for Verizon/Sprint). AT&T, T-mobile use a lesser Intel
Modem.
[https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/modems/x12](https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/modems/x12)

~~~
mirsadm
In addition, touch screen latency is something that never gets tested but is a
huge factor in how the device feels to use. Some phones have terrible latency
and its impossible to find out until you own the device.

~~~
retromario
Absolutely, it's actually incredible how little real-world information there
is on latency. The last useful articles I can find are from 2-3 years ago!

Where is Microsoft's 1ms latency touch screen from 2012?
[https://www.engadget.com/2012/03/10/microsoft-cuts-
touchscre...](https://www.engadget.com/2012/03/10/microsoft-cuts-touchscreen-
lag-to-1ms/)

------
rayiner
On several of the tests, Apple has basically lapped the competition with the
6s and 7 both beating the Snapdragon/Exynos-powered devices. In Jetstream and
Kraken, which additionally take the JS engine into account, three generations
of Apple devices are beating the latest flagship android devices.

Really a phenomenal showing by Apple's CPU and compiler teams, especially
considering that everyone uses the same fabs.

~~~
kyrra
Owning the chip design, compilers and OS let you get out lots and lots of
extra performance. There is a reason Intel has so many driver and software
developers (they are one of the largest employers of software devs out there).
Getting a chip working well takes a lot of effort of a lot of people.

Qualcomm is trying to do what apple does here, but they are spread across many
more phones, OS versions and the like. They are trying to be more general
purpose, which makes them not as great in most cases.

------
Yhippa
> At the start of this review I said it was important to consider perspective
> because at the end of the day, I use Android devices. Doing the iPhone 7 and
> 7 Plus review is important, but also deeply disillusioning. With the iPhone
> 6s review I showed a number of clear and present issues in Android devices
> relative to the iPhone, and these issues continue to appear time and time
> again. More than ever it’s obvious to me that most companies in the Android
> ecosystem don’t really care about the details as an organization.

I would love to hear more about the disillusioning part. As an Android user I
want to stay with them but after playing around with the 7 and reading this
review I'm actually much more impressed with this phone than when it initially
came out. Especially after the release of the Google Pixel which was very
underwhelming to me. I can't believe I'd say this but the iPhone 7 seems to
provide a better value than the Pixel.

~~~
gtk40
To be fair, the Pixel is a horrible value, as it doesn't seem to be as
significantly better than what it's replacing relative to the significant
increase in price.

~~~
criddell
Is the price difference that significant?

To me, the difference between a $1000 phone and a $400 is less than $1 per day
(I keep my phones for 24 months). A buck a day is something I can afford and
am willing to pay it for even a modestly better phone. I would guess a lot of
HN readers are in a similar position.

I wish Google would have come out with something much better even if it would
have been more expensive than an iPhone.

~~~
gtk40
Certainly there are plenty of people for whom it is significant. You could
just as easily say many have their smartphone fully paid for by their employer
so it doesn't matter. When I paid for my own smartphone before, I got a Moto G
(80% as good as a phone many times as expensive). Now that my employer pays, I
got a more expensive phone that I like only marginally better than my former
Moto G (and I miss some things about the G). However, plenty of people are not
in that situation, and plenty of people notice the $500+ difference.

~~~
criddell
Yes there are plenty of people that can't afford it, but I was mostly talking
to HN readers. $1 per day is something that most of us can afford. Verizon
will sell you an iPhone 7 Plus for $32 / month. For sure it's a luxury item,
but it's within reach.

If a Moto G is good enough for you, then great! You have sixty five cents per
day that you can spend on other things.

------
Steko
I've always wondered what it is that Anand Lal Shimpi, Brian Klug (also
formerly Anandtech) and (now) Chris Ziegler (formerly The Verge) do at Apple
(or _did_ if they've moved on). At first I thought they might be involved in
PR and media outreach but that doesn't seem to be the case. Now I'd guess
maybe they just painstakingly review devices just like they did before except
now they do internal only reviews of Apple's prototypes and maybe the
competition.

~~~
madeofpalk
> Chris Ziegler (formerly The Verge)

I do wonder if he is _still_ at Apple after whatever was happening was made
public (and possibly known to Apple as well)

~~~
samstave
can you expand, i am out of the loop

~~~
dpark
He took a job at Apple and didn't actually quit at The Verge. Just stopped
communicating with them but kept collecting a check.

[http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/23/13036012/a-note-from-
the-e...](http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/23/13036012/a-note-from-the-editor-
in-chief-about-chris-ziegler)

Apparently there was about a month where he actively worked for both, too.

~~~
eridius
[http://daringfireball.net/linked/2016/09/23/ziegler-verge-
ap...](http://daringfireball.net/linked/2016/09/23/ziegler-verge-apple)
suggests that he may not even be at Apple anymore.

------
saturdaysaint
I really don't understand the calls for higher pixel density - there are clear
performance costs, and the only use case where it makes a meaningful
difference is VR, where I'm more and more skeptical that mobile will be
relevant for a while. I've noticed with TV's, tech reviewers have almost
unanimously yawned at 4K for normal viewing, and are much more excited about
HDR - this just sounds like specs for the sake of specs.

------
nextos
A bit offtopic but I am very disappointed only Apple seems to have a clear
plan, and makes continuous progress in careful iterations.

I quit Apple precisely when the iPhone 1 was released due to ideological
reasons, as I realised the whole ecosystem would become a walled garden. But I
concede they have good products.

I was looking forward to the new Pixel and Pixel XL. Google devices are the
only ones that have a sane code/update policy within Android, and thus allow
me to run Copperhead OS (which is the only free mobile OS I find realistic to
run). However, they are insanely expensive, which IMHO risks making Copperhead
a really niche option.

Samsung makes decent hardware, Note fiasco aside, but their Android mods are a
joke. Same for most Androids. Jolla is stuck. And fringe options like Pyra are
cool but inconvenient on a daily basis...

~~~
pasta
I wish there would be more distinction between hardware and software. Just buy
an iPhone and install Winedows 10 or buy a S7 and install Sailfish.

Why is this so hard to do? Can't a desktop OS compile the right rom and
install it via USB?

Edit: I understand this is a driver issue, but it seems there isn't that much
difference in hardware in the mobile world.

~~~
mbel
There is no technical difficulty. The only difficulty here is to find business
plan that is not negatively affected by this feature.

~~~
BoorishBears
Maintaining a consistent level of quality is the main technical difficulty,
see: Android

~~~
mbel
Arguably the phones with open bootloader have the best Android experience out
there (Nexus line), so I'm not sure if Android here is the best
counterargument.

~~~
BoorishBears
They have an open boot loader because Google sells them, and they have the
best Android experience for the same reason. The open boot loader doesn't
enable that experience.

In fact, I think that somewhat proves my point, it's no coincidence the
hardware Google has the most influence over has the best experience.

And it's no coincidence they gave up on just influencing the phones and went
as far as manufacturing a phone with the Pixel, all in chase of the perfect
experience

------
WhitneyLand
Is anyone making different decisions based on the headphone jack?

After a steady upgrade cadence since iPhone 1, this is the first time I've
postponed my decision, still deciding how to proceed.

Google is making the right moves but I'm not sure how much it can help them.
Pixel is an excellent product, but you need a crowbar to pry people out of a
well worn and comfortable habits.

~~~
ak217
In my opinion Pixel is a disappointment. iPhone 7 brought two features that I
really like (waterproofing and a faster CPU) but screwed it up by removing the
headphone jack. So I was really looking forward to the Pixel. But it has no
water resistance, no wireless charging, a poor backplate design, and an
uncompetitive starting price. So at this point I'm disappointed in both
flagship launches of the year. I don't know what to get to replace my Nexus 5.
Maybe I'll get an iPhone 6s, despite the ugly antenna bands.

I think if Apple kept the headphone jack and added wireless charging, they'd
have a lot of very happy customers.

~~~
Kyro38
Am I the only who thinks wireless charging is a terrible idea ?

~~~
neolefty
Have you tried it?

------
tluyben2
> Apps like WeChat are fairly notorious for holding wakelocks on Android and
> never really stopping background resource usage

I thought everyone went mad when they said this as I never encountered this
issue, but I see it everywhere... The app that drains my Android is always
Skype. That is also the app the drains my laptop and the reason I started
using the web version but when that is on, Chrome drains my laptop. Wechat
seriously does not come close and I use it a lot more...

------
throwaway_45
I am surprised cell phones are still selling for 650 bucks. You can get a
Chinese cell phone for 200 dollars which will do 90% of what latest apple or
Samsung will do. Maybe it will be a little bit slower, but not 450 dollars
slower.

~~~
op00to
When the $200 phone bursts into flames, are you able to sue the Chinese
manufacturer for damages? When your $200 phone breaks, do you have to simply
buy a new one rather than get it replaced? When there are security holes in
your $200 phone, will the cheap skin over Android get patched?

I buy Apple phones for one reason, and that's the fact that my business lives
and dies through communication. With my $800 phone, I can walk into any Apple
store in the world and get support, a repair, or replacement. When I had a
Nexus phone, all I got was runaround and BS from whoever support was
contracted out to.

~~~
fpoling
In Norway in Apple-certified stores you will have to wait a week or more for
reparation. And they do not provide a replacement in the meantime...

~~~
madeofpalk
Huh really? I wonder why it's different in Norway? Apple-cerified service
providers offer on-the-spot replacements elsewhere in the world (at least in
the UK, US and Aus)

Apple in Norway offers IT departments (which manage over 1000 iOS devices)
boxes of replacement iPhones so they can swap devices immediately themselves.
I would be extremely surprised if this wasn't also available to AASPs
[http://www.apple.com/no/support/programs/ssa/](http://www.apple.com/no/support/programs/ssa/)

------
wodenokoto
> The default maps application didn’t offer that kind of functionality and
> Google Maps was completely absent, as was YouTube

I don't remember ever not using Google maps on an iPhone. When was this
impossible? I got the 3GS in 2009 and moved to the 4S in early 2012

~~~
rwc
Between the iOS 6 launch in fall 2012 and December 2012 Google Maps was
unavailable on iOS.

"In June 2012, Apple announced that they would replace Google Maps with their
own maps service from iOS 6. However, on December 13, 2012, Google announced
the availability of Google Maps in the Apple App Store, starting with the
iPhone version. Just hours after the Google Maps iOS app was released, it
became the top free app in the App Store."

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Maps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Maps)

------
mark-r
There's a lot of moaning about the resolution of 326ppi, but does anybody find
that to be an actual limitation in practice? Just because other devices get a
higher figure doesn't mean you get any practical value from those higher
figures.

~~~
eridius
I came here to ask the same question. What's the point of a higher resolution?
326ppi is already good enough that I don't see individual pixels, so it's hard
to imagine why I would want something denser. And speaking as a developer, I'm
really glad Apple has stuck with their 2x and 3x scales. I really don't want
to have to add 4x versions of all my images too.

------
nikon
I returned my 7+ as it's barely any different to the 6S+, and at £719 here in
the UK for the 32GB model it was hard to stomach. £819 for 128GB model is now
almost Macbook territory in my mind. I had barely any free space on the 32GB
model, and using an adaptor for my headphones was annoying. The camera was
good though.

A 64GB 6S+ is a much better proposition to me and will be my daily driver
until I find something better. I've not noticed any difference since swapping.

~~~
eridius
The price points between the 7+ now and the 6S+ last year are virtually
identical (I found a reference that suggests the 64GB 6S+ was $849, and the
128GB 7+ is $869 now). Would I be correct in assuming that this price point is
now considered too expensive because of Brexit (causing the pound to fall)?

------
PTRFRLL
>It’s hard to actually think about the user experience of the headphone jack
and to design wireless earbuds that don't have all of the friction points that
we've come to expect.

What are the 'friction points' of traditional 3.5mm headphones? The fact that
they're wired?

------
haikuginger
>[The home button] doesn't actually depress so it isn't quite as accurate as
something like the Macbook trackpad in replicating the feel of a real button

You guys know that the MacBook trackpads don't actually depress either, right?

------
kpga
I am buying iphone 7 plus for my wife, yet I believe this review is quite
biased towards iphone 7 and at times reads more like a PR piece.

Quite a disappointement from anandtech.

------
dovdov
Let's be honest, it's a 6SS (Plus).

And thank god, since I only got my 6S Plus a few months ago. :)

I hope they are planning some fireworks (you'll recover Samsung ;) for the
iPhone's 10th year anniversary next year.

~~~
rimantas
The only thing that's the same is design. Yet some think that's the most
important part…

~~~
NetStrikeForce
> Yet some think that's the most important part…

Steve Jobs definitely didn't play down that part, to the point of being as
important as any other part.

~~~
NetStrikeForce
Ok, I usually don't do this, but it would be good to understand why I'm being
downvoted here.

Therefore it makes sense to talk about design and not downplay its importance
with a comment like "Yet some think that's the most important part...";
because one of those "some" was Steve Jobs and I don't think Apple has changed
its policy much in that regard.

I'm not judging if he would have released this iPhone 7 or not, I'm just
saying what I've said.

~~~
dkonofalski
I think the reason you were getting eaten alive was because your comment
somehow confused the design being similar with that somehow being bad. Steve
Jobs was always about refining and, when he found a design he liked, he stuck
with it. For nearly the entire iPhone's existence, Jony Ive has been the one
that has decided the design of the phone. I would imagine that if he's happy
with it, Steve would have been too.

You're totally right with your comment but I think that the context of the
other posts made it seem like you were suggesting something you weren't.

~~~
NetStrikeForce
Got it. I can see where the confusion comes from.

Thank you for your comment :-)

