Apple iPhone 7: 10 highlights of the new flagship device

Phone comes with a new snapper, new home button, a much-needed memory boost, but no ear phones

Tech-giant Apple revealed the much anticipated iPhone 7 in an event in San Francisco on Wednesday night.

Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, and other senior executives, took to the stage to introduce the the company's latest addition to its smartphones roster.

Here are the 10 highlights of the new iPhone:

1) New colour: Company executive Phil Schiller took to the stage and said that the device, both the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 and the 5.5-inch 7 Plus, would feature an all-new colour scheme, the “jet black”, along with black, silver, gold and rose gold, reported Forbes.

2) Redesigned home button: Schiller also revealed that the home button on the phone had been completely redesigned. It  would be customisable, force sensitive and with taptic feedback, the report added. According to The Guardian, taptic feedback is a process where a “taptic engine”, found also in Apple's latest MacBooks, responds to a user's click or tap with a tap of its own directed at the user, this simulates the feeling of pressing down on an actual button. Of course, the fingerprint sensor has been built into the new home button.

3) Resistant to the elements: Schiller, the report adds, went on to say that the device would be water and dust resistant — which has been a major user demand for years.

4) New camera: Its camera also got a big upgrade, albeit on the larger iPhone 7 Plus model only. While Apple did upgrade the camera on the smaller 4.7-inch iPhone 7, the 5.5-inch 7 Plus gets a dual camera setup that uses a regular wide angle in addition to a telephoto lens that will allow users a world of new features and control. The 12 megapixel snapper, present on both the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models, was given a prominent mention. The front facing camera has also been updated to 7 megapixel. According to Forbes, the second camera on the 7 Plus model will allow the phone to "actually zoom in" on images instead of digitally performing the same operation.

5) Enter Air Pods: Much before the device was released, the tech world had already been anticipating, with mixed feelings, the removal of the headphone jack from the new phone. Apple has decided to ditch the analog 3.5mm jack in favour of using its proprietary Lightning port to run its headphones. The standard earphones would be replaced by the company's first wireless earbuds, dubbed Air Pods, which were showcased at the event.

6) Faster, smarter & longer-lasting: The heart of the device, the A10 Fusion chip, also got its due at the event. With this chip, the iPhone 7, according to the official site, is two times as fast as the iPhone 6. Graphics speed on the new iPhone is also three times that on the iPhone 6. The gains in efficiency should allow the iPhone 7 to achieve two hours of extra battery life over the 6S on average, while the 7 Plus will be able to manage an hour longer than the 6S Plus.

7) Memory boost at the same price: Apple has retained the pricing for the iPhone 7, starting at $649 for the smaller 4.7-inch model, while prices for the 7 Plus will start at $769. While the price remains the same, the company has effectively doubled the storage capacity of all variants, with the entry level models getting 32GB of storage, while higher-end models get 128GB and 256GB of onboard storage.

8) Mario meets Apple: One point that really pleased the crowd at the event, according to Forbes, was the announcement that Super Mario Runs would be coming to the iPhone.

9) Louder music: The iPhone 7 is the first from the company to feature stereo speakers located at the top and bottom.

10) When can you snatch it up: According to the official site, the new iPhone will be available in India from October 7.