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One last look at the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus ahead of today’s big unveiling

Published Sep 7th, 2016 9:31AM EDT
iPhone 7 Release Date
Image: iFeng

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Labor Day might have been this past Monday in the United States, but Wednesday is a far better holiday for tens of millions of Apple fans around the world. That’s right, Apple’s new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will finally become a reality later today. Months of non-stop leaks and rumors have painted a near-complete picture of what we can expect from Apple’s next-generation iPhone lineup, and things are shaping up to be pretty exciting despite the ongoing narrative on some gadget blogs that Apple’s new iPhones will be “boring” since they only feature minor design changes. As a matter of fact, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will almost certainly be Apple’s most exciting iPhones ever.

What makes the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus so exciting? With just a few hours to go before Apple’s big iPhone 7 event, let’s run through what we should expect one last time.

MUST SEE: The 5 biggest takeaways from the early hands-on iPhone 7 preview that ran on Tuesday

There has been so much buzz and chatter ahead of Wednesday’s big iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus event that it can be difficult to filter out the junk from the details that come from reliable sources. Lucky for you, that’s why we’re here and in this post we’ll run down all of the iPhone 7 rumors that will almost certainly end up being accurate when Apple’s new phones are made official.

First and foremost, the design of the new iPhones is expected to be perfectly in line with all of the leaked mockup units we’ve seen. The smaller iPhone 7 will look a great deal like last year’s iPhone 6s, but the camera lens will be larger and the antennas have been redesigned. The story is the same with the larger iPhone 7 Plus, but the phone will feature a dual-lens camera setup on the back.

Around front, multiple reliable sources have stated that the new iPhones will feature a new capacitive home button in place of the current button. It should feature 3D Touch pressure sensitivity technology just like the display, and enhanced haptic feedback will simulate the feeling of depressing an actual button when the use touches it.

Why bother revamping the home button? That question can be answered in part with the same explanation for Apple’s decision to remove the standard 3.5mm headphone jack (that’s right, the new iPhones won’t have a regular audio port): waterproofing. Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are both expected to be the first iPhones with an official IPX7 rating for water and dust-resistance.

Lastly when it comes to design, the new iPhones are expected to come in five different colors. You’ll see silver, gold and rose gold options with a white face, and then a darker gray/black and a glossy “piano black” with a black face. Apple’s new displays on the 7 and 7 Plus should feature the same resolution as the current iPhones, but they’ll feature True Tone technology from the iPad Pro to offer much better color reproduction and image quality.

Moving inside the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Apple’s next-generation 16nm A10 processor is expected to be running the show, supported by 2GB of RAM in the iPhone 7 and 3GB of RAM in the iPhone 7 Plus. Leaked benchmark test results suggest Apple’s new iPhones will be about 35% more powerful than the iPhone 6s, which is already the fastest and smoothest phone on the planet in terms of real-world usage. And that extra RAM in the Plus model should help all-around performance a bit, but it’s thought to support the enhanced features of Apple’s dual-lens camera, for the most part.

Oh, and you can expect twice as much storage in your new iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus. That’s right, instead of 32GB/64GB/128GB models, Apple’s new iPhones are expected to launch with 32GB/128GB/256GB options. That’s a huge deal for iPhone fans, who might never get expandable storage support.

The only question left is the big one: when can you get your hands on a hot new iPhone. Apple is expected to make them available for preorder beginning this Friday, September 9th, and the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will then be released on September 16th if all goes according to plan. Apple’s big unveiling is scheduled to begin today at 1:00PM ET, so any remaining blanks will be filled in soon enough.

Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 15 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.