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Apple’s iPhone 7 – Pros and Cons from an AV Technician

By: Richard Mitchell

This past week, Apple unleashed the iPhone 7, and yes… it’s a big and potentially anxiety elevating upgrade for AV technicians.

ddmc_iphone_7

The Good:

  • The iPhone 7’s camera has been completely overhauled. It sports a higher resolution lens, upgraded flash, provides hardware-based image stabilization, and the pro version also includes a second lens to provide wide-angle and telephoto zoom options.
  • The phone now offers built-in stereo speakers with improved sound quality.
  • While not revolutionary in the smartphone industry, the iPhone 7 is water and dust resistant. A first for Apple.
  • Better battery life!
  • Apple is including a Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter in the box (see below).
  • R.I.P. iPhone with 16gb of storage… you will not be missed. The iPhone 7 has 32gb of storage as the base-level option, which should be the minimum. Owning an iPhone with 16gb of storage in 2016 is like driving a Ferrari 308, but with an underpowered go kart engine. It’s just sad.

The Bad:

  • With the iPhone 7, Apple has decided to remove the 3.5mm TRRS analog headphone out and mic in jack. Boom! This could cause some real-world headaches for AV technicians if you have come to expect an analog “backup” option on the iPhone. Sigh, one more adapter to add to the keychain.
  • This is a bit of speculation, but is this the first step toward copy-protected audio? Under specific situations, will Apple disable the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone adapter in the future? Hmmmm… time to break out my tinfoil hat.
  • Still no wireless charging…

Overall, I’m happy to see the iPhone receive a healthy bump. But, I must admit… my day-job just got a little more difficult.

Categories: Audio, DDMC Info

One comment

  1. I’m fairly surprised that the assassination of the headphone jack is still a thing. However it is quite a big statement from Apple. If your Apple then your Apple! The headphone jack adapter is ok but the standard one restricts you from charging the iPhone 7 at the same time. Thanks for the great post!

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