iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone 7 Plus: Every New Feature Compared

Wednesday September 13, 2017 10:50 AM PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple at its annual September event introduced the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X.

iPhone 8 Plus on left and iPhone 7 Plus on right

iPhone X is Apple's new flagship smartphone, with a radically redesigned edge-to-edge OLED display and a TrueDepth front camera system with Face ID facial recognition, but it's also considerably more expensive at $999 and up.

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are the natural successors to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The devices aren't dramatically different, but start at $699 and share many improvements like faster A11 Bionic chips and wireless charging.

If you have an iPhone 7 Plus, or are considering purchasing one, you may be wondering how the year-old smartphone stacks up to the iPhone 8 Plus. For that reason, we've created a list of new and unchanged features and tech specs. Read ahead…

iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone 7 Plus: What's the Same?

  • Touch ID: Both the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 7 Plus have Home buttons with Touch ID fingerprint authentication.

  • Front Cameras: The front-facing camera is a 7-megapixel sensor with ƒ/2.2 aperture, Retina Flash, and 1080p HD video recording on both the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 7 Plus. Front-facing Portrait Mode and Animoji aren't supported.

  • Water Resistance: Both the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 7 Plus have IP67-rated splash, water, and dust resistance.


  • Memory: Both models are believed to have 3GB of RAM.

  • Battery Life: Both the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 7 Plus have the same battery life, according to Apple's testing:

    • Talk: Up to 21 hours
    • Internet: Up to 13 hours
    • Video Playback: Up to 14 hours
    • Audio Playback: Up to 60 hours

  • Both models have a Lightning connector but no 3.5mm headphone jack.

  • Both models also support LTE Advanced, VoLTE, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi calling.

    • iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone 7 Plus: What's Similar?


  • Displays: Both the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 7 Plus have 5.5-inch LCD displays—called Retina HD Displays—with 1920×1080 resolution. Nearly all other display tech specs are identical, including a 1300:1 contrast ratio, 3D Touch, Wide Color (P3) support, and 625 cd/m2 max brightness.

    The sole difference is the iPhone 8 Plus has a True Tone display, which automatically adapts the color and intensity of the display to match the color temperature of the light in its surrounding environment.

    If you are standing in a dimly lit room with incandescent light bulbs, for example, the display would appear warmer and yellower. If you are standing outside on a cloudy day, meanwhile, the display would appear cooler and bluer.


  • Rear Cameras: Both the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 7 Plus have 12-megapixel rear-facing dual cameras consisting of a telephoto lens with ƒ/2.8 aperture and a wide-angle lens with ƒ/1.8 aperture. iPhone 8 Plus has Portrait Lighting beta support, but all other rear camera tech specs are identical on paper.

    However, Apple says the iPhone 8 Plus rear camera has been advanced with a larger, faster sensor, new color filter, and deeper pixels.

  • Size and Weight: iPhone 8 Plus is just slightly heavier at 7.13 ounces, compared to 6.63 ounces for the iPhone 7 Plus. iPhone 8 Plus is also marginally thicker—0.2mm—than iPhone 7 Plus, so some very tight cases may not fit.

    • iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone 7 Plus: What's Different?


  • Glass-Backed Design: iPhone 8 Plus has an all-new glass-backed design, along with the same color-matching, 7000 Series aluminum edges and glass front as iPhone 7 Plus. Apple says the rear glass is the strongest glass in any smartphone, with a "50 percent deeper strengthening layer."

  • Performance: iPhone 8 Plus has Apple's latest A11 Bionic chip. It has two performance cores that are 25 percent faster, and four high-efficiency cores that are 70 percent faster, than the A10 chip in iPhone 7 Plus. The A11 chip also has a neural engine and a more powerful M11 motion coprocessor vs. M10.

  • Wireless Charging: iPhone 8 Plus supports wireless charging based on the Qi standard. The device can charge by being placed on an inductive charging pad, such as Apple's upcoming AirPower mat or third-party options from accessory makers such as Mophie, Belkin, and Incipio.


  • Fast Charging: iPhone 8 Plus is "fast-charge capable," which means the device can be charged to 50 percent battery life in 30 minutes using Apple's 29W, 61W, or 87W USB-C Power Adapters, sold separately and included with any 12-inch MacBook and 2016 or later MacBook Pro models.

  • Fewer Colorways: iPhone 8 Plus comes in glass-backed Silver, Space Gray, and a new shade of Gold, while the iPhone 7 Plus remains available in aluminum-backed Black, Gold, Jet Black, Rose Gold, and Silver.

    iPhone 8 Plus on left and iPhone 7 Plus on right

  • Bluetooth: iPhone 8 Plus has Bluetooth 5.0, while iPhone 7 Plus has Bluetooth 4.2.

  • iPhone 8 Plus has 4K video recording at up to 60 FPS, while iPhone 7 Plus has 4K video recording at 30 FPS.

    • Conclusion


    The key new features of the iPhone 8 Plus include a new glass-backed design, True Tone display, faster A11 Bionic chip, wireless charging, fast charging, 4K video recording at up to 60 FPS, and Bluetooth 5.0.

    All in all, those features make the iPhone 8 Plus a considerable upgrade over the iPhone 7 Plus, which is perhaps why Apple skipped over calling it the iPhone 7s Plus. Alongside the iPhone X, it's an option worth considering.

    iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will be available to pre-order starting Friday, September 15 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time, with in-store availability in limited quantities starting Friday, September 22, in the first wave of launch countries.

    iPhone 8 Plus starts at $799, which is $30 more expensive than the iPhone 7 Plus cost at launch. iPhone 7 Plus is now priced from $669.

    Related Roundups: iPhone 7, iPhone 8
    Buyer's Guide: iPhone 8 (Don't Buy), iPhone 8 (Don't Buy)
116 comments


Top Rated Comments

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enthusiastic
12 months ago

The key new features of the iPhone 8 Plus include a new glass-backed design, True Tone display, faster A11 Bionic chip, wireless charging, fast charging, 4K video recording at up to 60 FPS, and Bluetooth 5.0.

All in all, those features make the iPhone 8 Plus a considerable upgrade over the iPhone 7 Plus, which is perhaps why Apple skipped over calling it the iPhone 7s Plus.


Two of those features (wireless and fast charging) require additional hardware that are sold separately. Glass-back and Bluetooth 5.0 do not really change your common use cases. That leaves us with True Tone display and A11 Bionic. I personally think this is an "S" upgrade.
Rating: 17 Votes
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kyjaotkb
12 months ago
iPhone 6 user here. Seriously considering an SE...
Rating: 10 Votes
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Mi1lion
12 months ago
Thanks for doing a deep comparison between the two. Definitely useful.
Rating: 9 Votes
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RightMACatU
12 months ago
For me, Apple signaled that the 8/8+ are the last of their kinds. The new game in town is the X and this should be re-informed with next year's release.
Rating: 7 Votes
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tkukoc
12 months ago
What! There's no way this is a considerable upgrade over 7 Plus. They are almost the exact same phone. All devices this year.. yes even the iPhone X are minor upgrades. There's zero applications pushing the last couple generations to the edge. The only resource hog is the system itself, which is very much in need of a full redesign! With the home button being retired, one can only hope next year is when IOS gets taken seriously. They need power user settings, enough with the hand holding! Their user base grew up, time for the system to grow up too, the bandades method is really starting to show.
Rating: 7 Votes
Avatar
M.PaulCezanne
12 months ago
$130 over several years for wireless charging? I think i'd pay it. Not going to upgrade from my 6 though, until iOS support causes a security concern. I just don't have an $800 need for cinema quality video or pro-quality photographs. I'm surprised so many people do.
Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
levitynyc
12 months ago
Its definitely not worth the upgrade form the 7 plus in my opinion.

My main complaint about the 7 plus is the chin and bezel. The 8 plus makes it even worse by being slightly thicker.

No thanks.
Rating: 6 Votes
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Stella
12 months ago
The 8 doesn't look like a 'considerable' upgrade at all. Apple have pushed out the 8 with the least effort. It's perfectly clear they've spend the majority of time developing the X.
Rating: 5 Votes
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ng-design
12 months ago
Tech journalists seem to keep forgetting a key market of iPhone users: consumers who upgrade every 2 years with their cell carrier.

The last phone I bought was the 6S Plus in September 2015. I'm finally eligible for an upgrade and I've been counting the days. Like millions of other people, I bought the baseline 16GB model because it was the most affordable at the time.

So take a minute and think about how huge this upgrade is. People like me are going from a 16GB baseline model to a 64GB baseline, for just a little bit more than we paid for the 6S Plus two years ago.

People can grumble all they want about how the 8 is a "mediocre" update, but for many consumers, this is a very exciting upgrade. I wish more journalists focused on the increase in storage, because it's a factor when people buy. I'm looking forward to the extra storage space, improved speed, and better camera.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
Zelion
12 months ago

$130 over several years for wireless charging? I think i'd pay it. Not going to upgrade from my 6 though, until iOS support causes a security concern. I just don't have an $800 need for cinema quality video or pro-quality photographs. I'm surprised so many people do.


I hear man. I've been feelling the same way. Even worse is the fact that they've conditioned us to be ok with trading in yearly to upgrade. That's basically $50/mo ($600 yearly)- And you still don't own your phone! I've jumped off the "You must upgrade every year train." Good to see I am not alone. But yeah man I'm with ya.... keep your phone. My 6S+ is just fine. Bought it straight cash - to hell with monthly payments.
Rating: 3 Votes
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