Yesterday, Apple had its annual iPhone announcement event at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. With more product leak than ever, it’s fair to expect less surprise from an announcement event. You can find countless articles about the announcement, so I am not going to waste my time writing yet another summary from the event. Instead, I am going to write about my candid responses on each product/feature being announced.

 

iphone-7-colors

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

To no one’s surprise, the main announcement is about the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. iPhone 7 has new color options, water resistant build, new non-mechanical home button, better 12 MP camera with optical image stabilisation, 7 MP FaceTime HD camera, quad-LED true-tone flash, retina HD display with wide color gamut, 25% brighter screen, 3D touch, A10 Fusion processor, longer battery life, stereo speaker system (at the cost of headphone jack) and pre-installed iOS 10. iPhone 7 Plus has larger screen and dual camera. The storage options are 32 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB.

Nothing especially new here. Last year I skipped iPhone 6S. This year I will get iPhone 7 because my mobile plan is due for a renewal and iOS is still my preferred mobile operating system. It’s a solid upgrade and definitely will make my user experience noticeably better, but no excitement with new things in iPhone 7.

 

wired-earpods-lightning

Missing 3.5mm headphones jack

iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will not have the standard 3.5mm headphones jack. For replacement, Apple now encourages wired headphones with lightning connector, or wireless headphones. To soften the blow, iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will come with included EarPods with lightning connector (free, pictured above), plus it will also come with a converter from lightning to 3.5mm headphones jack.

I read so much anger on Apple’s decision with removing 3.5mm headphones jack. As an owner of some high-end wired and wireless headphones, I think Apple has taken reasonable steps to soften the blow and make it easier for everyone to adjust. The included EarPods with lightning connector means every person purchasing iPhone 7 will be able to listen to music straight away without buying anything extra. The included lightning to 3.5mm audio jack converter will allow everyone to use their current 3r party wired headphones without any problem.

As usual, so many idiots are too lazy to even read beyond a title, then jumped into conclusions that Apple is trying to make more money by stop giving freebies etc. WTF people, the freebies are STILL there. You still get a wired EarPods with lightning connector, bundled for free. You get additional converter from lightning to 3.5mm audio, also free. The only one not free is the new wireless AirPods, which will cost US$159. And people are complaining because Apple don’t include the wireless AirPods for free? Since when an iPhone ever comes with free wireless headphones? If you want wireless, there are TONS of products out there, people. The $9 price for the converter is for people who wants to get more of that converter.

Some mainstream media are not doing any better. They use low tactics to gain more clicks and exposure to their articles by writing clickbait titles making lazy people to assume that they will have to buy new headphones for the new iPhone. Hint: no one would have to buy anything new, unless they choose to.

 

apple-wireless-airpods

Apple Wireless AirPods

This is Apple’s version of wireless headphones with a connection that is said to be better than Bluetooth.

I can’t comment on the audio quality of connection stability. However, I can surely comment on its design: it is fuckin ugly. That stick looks utterly ridiculous. The wired EarPods are not the best in-ear headphones that would stay firmly in our ear to begin with. Now they created something with similar design for the in-ear part, put ugly stick on it, and expect people to wear it without a worry. That design is like screaming “hello, please drop and lose me”.

 

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Apple Watch Series 2

Apple’s second generation smart watches get GPS chip, waterproof build, brighter display and faster processor.

My reaction: still meh.

 

super-mario-runSuper Mario Run

This last bit came as a little surprise for me. Sure this is not really an announcement about Apple product, but it’s still nice to know I will be able to play Super Mario, legally, in my phone. Definitely can’t wait. It’s a bit sad that the most exciting part of an Apple event comes from Nintendo instead.

 

Conclusion

Solid incremental updates. Boring event.

Now I wait from mobile plan announcement from Telstra to make my iPhone 7 pre-order tomorrow.