iPhone 6S vs. iPhone 7: Should You Upgrade Or Not?

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Are you an iPhone 6s owner wondering whether it’s worth upgrading to the iPhone 7? If so, then you’ve come to the right place as in this article, we set forth a comparison of the two handsets. We’ll look at design, cameras, display, hardware, battery life and price.

design

If you roll back the days to the beginning of September, the first rumor going around was that the iPhone 7’s design was going to be almost identical to that of the 6s. Fast-forward to today, and it can be said that this rumor was around 80% accurate. For the most part, the handsets are similar, but there are some crucial differences.

To start with, the iPhone 7 still has antenna lines. However, they have been moved to the top of the device and look cleaner. Also the headphone jack is missing, in what may be the most controversial change of all. Apple has decided to remove this 50-year old tech and instead allow all external accessories to connect via the Lightning port.

Both handsets have 4.7-inch LED-backlit displays; in fact, their overall dimensions are the same at 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm. However, the iPhone 7 is slightly lighter than the 6s, weighing in at 138 grams.

The iPhone 6s and iPhone 7 both have the same 700 series aluminum for durability. However, Apple has included IP67 dust and water resistance in the iPhone 7, meaning it can be submerged for up to 30 minutes.

One more physical change is the home button, as the mechanical button found on the 6s has been replaced with a solid-state touch-sensitive button that can be customized on the iPhone 7. However, that’s not the end of the differences; Apple has created two new colors: Matte Black and Jet Black.

iPhone 7 camera compared

cameras

Apple has been falling behind for the last two years in the camera stakes, with Samsung taking the lead. The iPhone 6s with its rear 12-megapixel sensor and f2.2 aperture just couldn’t deal with low light conditions. However, Apple has been working hard to be competitive, so with the new iPhone 7, camera hopes are high.

This year’s iPhone has a completely redesigned 12-megapixel rear camera with an f1.8 aperture, which is larger than before. Also optical image stabilization has made its first appearance on an iPhone, and there are other firsts as well. To add warm and cool tones to images, there’s a four-LED flash, and last but not least, the camera has focus pixels. All of these new features combined should help the iPhone 7 overcome the lack of low-light performance seen on the 6s.

display

Both handsets have the same size displays at 4.7 inches, which is one part where nothing has changed. The 6s and iPhone 7 both use the same IPS LCD technology with 326ppi and a screen-to-body ratio of 65.6%.

However, there is one difference. Apple has boosted the brightness of the display in the iPhone 7 by 25%. The tech giant has introduced support for a wider color gamut and improved color management. Apple says in its literature that the iPhone 7 has a “cinema standard” display. However, while the display is slightly better than that found on the iPhone 6s, it’s not up to the standard found on Samsung’s top-of-the-line handsets.

hardware/ performance

Featuring the very latest A10 Fusion chip with an accompanying M10 motion co-processor, the iPhone 7 is 40% faster than the 6s with its A9 chip, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, who made the claim at the handset’s launch in San Francisco on September 7.

The iPhone 7 also has a new GPU (graphics processing unit) which is 50% faster than the A9. Both handsets offer 2GB of RAM.

battery life

When rumors started to leak about the removal of the headphone jack, many Apple fans thought this could be to make space for a larger battery. However, it turns out that this was not the case. Instead, it was to make room for the Home button’s haptic engine.

As such, there’s not much difference in battery performance between the 6s and the iPhone 7. Standby is the same at 10 hours, talk time is 14 hours using 3G, and video playback is 13 hours on the iPhone 7 and 11 hours on the 6s. And last but not least, audio playback gives 40 hours on the 7 and 50 hours on the 6s.

storage and price

One area of handset development in which Apple has caught up with its competitors is storage. Gone is the hated 16GB starter option, replaced with the more user-friendly 32GB. With the 6s, users had 16GB, 64GB, and 128Gb options, but the 7 comes with 32GB, 128GB and 256GB of internal storage.

The iPhone 6s is available at $549 for the 32GB model and $649 for the 128GB. The iPhone 7 starts at $649 for 32GB, then goes to $749 for 128GB, and then $849 for the 256GB.

iPhone 6s vs. iPhone 7 Specs Comparison

iphone 6s vs iphone 7 specs compared

Should you upgrade?

The iPhone 7 is much more of an upgrade than rumors and cynics would have you believe. In short, here’s what has changed: added durability, a more advanced camera, improved performance, water and dust resistance, brighter display, and larger storage options.

So is it worth upgrading from an iPhone 6s to an iPhone 7? Yes, it is if you want a better camera, improved performance, or an iPhone in Jet Black or Matte Black.

Alternatively, you could wait to see what Apple produces for the iPhone’s tenth birthday. Apparently the company will go with the iPhone 8 name, and it’s going to be a real game-changer if you believe the hype.

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