iPhone 7 Hands-On: Improved Cameras, New Jet Black Color, AirPods, No Headphone Jack, and More

Immediately following its media event today in San Francisco, Apple invited members of the press to a special hands-on area to get a closer look at the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The first real-life photos and videos of the smartphones are now beginning to surface around the web, showcasing the improved cameras, new black colors, no headphone jack, and more.

iphone-7-black-jet-black
The Verge shared pictures of the iPhone 7 in both the new Black and Jet Black colors, providing a glimpse of the new matte and glossy finishes in action. The two new colors complement the existing options of Gold, Silver, and Rose Gold. Jet Black in particular will be limited to 128GB and 256GB models of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, while the other four colors will be available for all storage capacities.

In the article, the website described the iPhone 7's capacitive home button as "awful," adding that "it doesn't feel like a button at all."

Another thing I tried: the new home button, which uses a "taptic engine" to give you physical feedback when you press it — it's pressure sensitive too, so it can tell if you really mean to press it or just tap it. And it's awful. On a MacBook trackpad, you get this uncanny feeling that you're actually hitting a button. On the iPhone, the whole bottom of the phone just sort of "kicks." It's not bad haptics like you remember, with weird vibration, it's just a new kind of bad haptics. It doesn't feel like a button at all. It's a bummer.

CNET prepared a quick hands-on video with the iPhone 7 Plus in Rose Gold, showing off its dual cameras, no headphone jack, stereo speakers, repositioned antenna bands, and capacitive, force-sensitive home button.


SlashGear, meanwhile, provided a hands-on look at Apple's new wireless AirPods with charging case and Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter. AirPods will be available for $159 in late October, while the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter is included in the box with iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The adapter is $9 as a standalone purchase on Apple's online store and retail locations.

airpods-hands-on
More hands-on videos and first impressions should follow in the coming hours and days.

Related Roundup: AirPods 4
Buyer's Guide: AirPods (Buy Now)
Related Forums: AirPods, iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
m4 macbook air pink

Apple Now Selling Refurbished M4 MacBook Air Models

Friday June 13, 2025 3:34 pm PDT by
Apple today added M4 MacBook Air models to its refurbished store in the United States, making the latest MacBook Air devices available at a discounted price for the first time since they launched earlier this year. Both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models are available, with Apple offering multiple capacities and configurations. The refurbished devices are discounted by approximately 15...

Top Rated Comments

mpavilion Avatar
115 months ago
those airpods look ridiculous.
Seriously - it looks like someone just chopped the wires off regular earbuds.
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Born Again Avatar
115 months ago
those airpods look ridiculous.

Apple didn't offer a compelling reason to leave the wired headphones. Courage is not a reason.

There is no new bluetooth high fidelity audio nor is there an apple signature high quality audio experience to be had. This is a sham for consumers.
Score: 52 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jsameds Avatar
115 months ago
Everyone complains about wires and then when you take them away everyone complains about the lack of wires. Weird.

I say bring on the new generation of wireless audio. Those EarPods are just the first generation, just imagine where we'll be in 5 years and there on.

Certainly it won't be the same place as we'd be if we'd carried on using wired headphones, which is pretty much exactly the same place as it was both now, and 40 years ago.

Phil was right, dumping old habits does take courage, and it pays off.



Sent from my Newton ;)
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
n3sh Avatar
115 months ago
Why not USB-C? Why the disconnect between macbook and iOS products? Can't seamlessly switch headphones or chargers between their own products. Sigh!
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jimbobb24 Avatar
115 months ago
The Airpods look lame when worn. Ok in the box.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
x-evil-x Avatar
115 months ago
Hmm - from The Verge piece:

Another thing I tried: the new home button, which uses a "taptic engine" to give you physical feedback when you press it — it's pressure sensitive too, so it can tell if you really mean to press it or just tap it. And it's awful. On a MacBook trackpad, you get this uncanny feeling that you're actually hitting a button. On the iPhone, the whole bottom of the phone just sort of "kicks." It's not bad haptics like you remember, with weird vibration, it's just a new kind of bad haptics. It doesn't feel like a button at all. It's a bummer.
he contradicts himself completely in his video
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)