Apple leaks its own iPhone 7 announcement

Tim Cook on stage (Newshub.)
Tim Cook on stage (Newshub.)

Apple has unveiled its new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, making rumours it's sacked the headphone jack official.

"Courage," said Apple's vice-president Phil Schiller by way of explanation.

"The courage to move on to do something new that betters all of us, and our team has tremendous courage."

The 3.5mm socket has been used as the default audio connector on the vast majority of electronic devices since the 1960s.

Now iPhone 7 and 7 Plus users will need headphones that use Bluetooth or plug into the iPhone's Lightning port.

Apple's EarPods will do the latter and will be included in the box, along with an adaptor for those who can't bear to be parted from their current headphones.

The AirPods, which cost $269, are completely wireless.

"We have a vision of how audio experience should be and we want to get there as fast as we can," said Mr Schiller.

They won't need pairing up like Bluetooth devices - just a single click on the device's screen once the AirPods are taken out of the box.

Apple accidentally revealed the iPhone 7 via its Twitter account, before it was announced at Thursday morning's press event in San Francisco.

The tweet, which came from the company's verified account, was quickly deleted - but not before screenshots were taken and leaked to the internet about half an hour before CEO Tim Cook took the stage.

Apple leaks its own iPhone 7 announcement

Much of Apple's focus today was on the new iPhone's camera.

"This is the best camera we have ever made in an iPhone, the best camera ever made in any smartphone" said Mr Schiller.

Features include a 12-megapixel camera, optical image stabilisation, f/1.8 aperture, six-element lens, a high-speed sensor that's 60 percent faster than the iPhone 6, and Quad LED True Tone flash.

On the iPhone 7 Plus there's now two 12-megapixel cameras.  One of them is a wide-angle 28mm lens, same as the iPhone 7. The other is a 56mm telephoto lens.

"With two cameras we can create the zoom feature built into the iPhone" said Mr Schiller.  All the way to 10x.

Mr Cook reiterated just how proud Apple is of its latest device.

"iPhone 7, the most advanced iPhone ever - it makes all the things you do so much better."

The new phones are water- and dust-resistant, with an IP67 rating.

They have stereo speakers - one at the bottom, the other at the top.

The iPhone 7's screen now has True Tone display. That means the white balance of the display adjusts automatically to ambient light around it.

The Home button has haptic feedback. Instead of clicking on a physical button, users press down and get instant feedback with the Taptic Engine. This works well on other Apple devices such as the Macbook.

The phones will come with iOS 10, including a major Siri update and third party integrations.

"It is jam-packed with new features," said Mr Cook.

New features include a redesigned lockscreen with rich notifications that can display live widgets, a photos app update with face recognition, and all sorts of upgrades to features like HomeKit.

The messaging app has been given a major overhaul with message effects, rich link previews and third party extensions.

Lastly, let's not forget the iPhone's glossy new colour, jet black. Space grey has been retired.

Overall, it's a faster, sleeker offering from Apple - but most of it was expected and there was really nothing too radical. That's likely planned for next year, the iPhone's 10th anniversary.

The iPhone 7 comes in silver, gold, rose gold, black and new jet black. It ships next week. The Plus version will cost between $1199 and $1429. The AirPods will cost $269.

To wrap, the iPhone 7's features include:

Today wasn't all about phones.  Apple Watch, the world's top selling smart watch, has been completely re-engineered.  

It's now got a built in GPS chip and perhaps more excitingly, is now water-resistant up to 50 metres. The speaker is actually capable of ejecting any water that's got in during a workout.

Two new workout apps have been created especially for swimmers.

Apple Watch Series 2 also comes in a new material, ceramic, apparently four times harder than stainless steel. For the ultra fashion-conscious, new Hermes straps will be available too.

Apple also announced a partnership with Nike and revealed the new Apple Watch Nike+, which will be available in four colours in later October.

The Watch will cost $599.

Apple Watch 2 key features:

In other big news of the morning, Mr Cook revealed that Nintendo's Mario is coming to the App Store.

"Gaming is the biggest and most popular category on the store... but there's been something, or rather someone missing," said Mr Cook.

There was wild applause from crowd as the creator of Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto, took to the stage, to announce Super Mario Run for iOS.  

Super Mario Run is a brand new game - and while it won't be free, there won't be microtransactions or subscriptions to pay once you've bought it.

That wasn't all. Pokemon Go is coming to Apple Watch, letting people track their workout as they play.

Both will be released in time for Christmas.

Emma Brannam travelled to the San Francisco event courtesy of Apple.

Newshub.