It took Apple many years to finally come around and embrace the phablet market with larger iPhone models, and when it did it launched two distinct iPhones. For the first time in the history of the iPhone, Apple unveiled two new models at the same time in September 2014, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, following the exact same recipe in 2015. This year, the company is also expected to have two brand new smartphones in stores come September – though until recently, Apple may have considered launching three distinct devices.
However, there’s one huge change coming to the new iPhone this year that will annoy plenty of longtime Apple fans.
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A new report this week detailed some of the hot new features coming in the iPhone 7. Even though the device will keep the design of the iPhone 6 virtually unchanged, it’ll have some interesting new tricks up its sleeve. The rear camera is getting a huge update, for example… but only if you get the right model.
“The dual cameras on the larger new iPhone will produce brighter photos with more detail, according to a person who has used a prototype version of the upcoming device,” Bloomberg reported earlier this week. “Both sensors, which each capture color differently, simultaneously take a picture, and the device produces a single, merged photograph, said the person.”
“The dual system sharpens photos taken in low-light environments, the person said,” the report continued. “The combination of the merged photos from the two camera sensors also allows users to zoom while retaining more clarity, the person added. The smaller version of the new phones will not include dual lenses, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said earlier this year.”
For the first time since 2014, the two iPhones coming in September will not be alike. They’ll share most of the same specs, but the camera on the back of the iPhone 7 Plus promises to be vastly superior to the one on the iPhone 7. Moreover, reports said the iPhone 7 Plus may receive a bump in RAM to handle the dual rear cameras.
Looking at early iPhone 7 rumors, I already concluded that Apple is going to force me to buy a new iPhone that I don’t really want this year. And it looks like I might not be the only person who doesn’t appreciate these rumors.
“It sounds like the plus-sized iPhone really will be the only model with the dual lens camera. Depressing if true,” Apple fan John Gruber concluded, after reading the same Bloomberg report.
The worst thing about the iPhone 7 will be the iPhone 7 Plus is that the 4.7-inch model won’t be the best iPhone Apple can offer, especially when it comes to camera performance — which is one of the iPhone features Apple values most. That’s something that didn’t happen in previous years when the only thing that separated the two devices was optical image stabilization on the phablet model.
