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Meet the newest members of the iPhone family
Thu, 8th Sep 2016
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Apple's just introduced the world to two new members of its smartphone family and Kiwis only have to wait a day to buy them.

Both the iPhone 7 and 7 plus will be available to purchase tomorrow, Friday the 9th of September, with the first shipment arriving on the 16th of September.

And, finally, Something we've all been waiting for…Apple has seen the light. The new additions feature both water and dust resistance with protection from spills, splashes and a stormy day at the beach.

Phillip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, says the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 plus dramatically improve every aspect of the iPhone experience.

“The completely redesigned cameras shoot incredible photos and videos day or night, the A10 Fusion chip is the most powerful chip on any smartphone while delivering the best battery life ever in an iPhone, and an entirely new stereo speaker system provides twice the sound, all within the first water and dust resistant iPhone,” he says.

Innovative new features

Both the iPhone 7 and plus feature optical image stabilisation with a 12-megapixel camera 50 percent more light than the iPhone 6S' f/2.2 lens.

The larger iPhone Plus has a dual camera system that Apple says will offer optical zoom at two times and up to 10 times digital zoom for photos.

Apple has also announced that later this year, the dual camera will have a new depth-of-field effect that was once only possible with a DSLR camera.

But how does it look?

Aesthetically, the new phones are pretty similar. However there are two notable differences. The first is the very obvious absence of a headphone port – Apple have instead introduced AirPods, an innovative new wireless headphone technology. And of course, the 7 plus' dual camera (which some may consider a bit of an eye-sore).

Despite the lack of creative aesthetics, the company has thrown in a couple new colours to spice things up. The additional designs include pink and two all-new black finishes: a black matte finish and a jet black finish with a glossy look.

Other updates include a brighter retina display which Apple states is its most colourful HD display yet, and iOS 10 – an operating system that the company says surpasses all other iOS updates to date.

You can buy the all new iPhones at these price points:

iPhone 7

  • 32GB: NZ$1199
  • 128GB: NZ$1399
  • 258GB: NZ$1599

iPhone 7 Plus

  • 32GB: NZ$1429
  • 128GB: NZ$1629
  • 256GB: NZ$1829

So iPhone loving people, ready your bank accounts - coz the iPhones are back in town.