Tech n' Stuff

Apple’s new iPhone doesn’t have a headphone jack, only a Lightning port that’s also used to charge the battery. In-ear sound comes from the EarPods or other headphones with a Lightning connector, via a Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter (included) or wireless headphones such as AirPods (sold separately). Why did Apple remove a common audio connector? The 3.5mm jack is over 50-years-old and doesn’t do much besides carry an audio signal. It needs its own power amplifier and digital audio converter, which can be built into headphones, so removing the jack makes room for other things, such as a second speaker. As Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said at the iPhone 7 launch, “Maintaining an ancient, single-purpose, analogue, big connector doesn’t make sense because that space is at a premium.” But does making room for what Apple thinks we want (such as a vibrating Taptic Engine) outweigh the inconvenience of not having a widely-used socket — and being forced to buy yet another ...

Apple just unveiled its “best iPhone yet” (we were waiting for the quote to drop too) and it comes with a more advanced camera proposition than its predecessors. But this time there's a key difference between iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus: the latter coming with dual cameras. So what's the deal and what can dual camera tech offer? Apple iPhone 7 Plus dual camera explained: Wide-angle and 2x tele We've seen dual cameras before in devices, from the LG G5's wide and super-wide lenses, to the Huawei P9's colour and monochrome sensors. The iPhone 7 Plus does things differently: the first camera is a 23mm (equivalent) wide-angle, which is wider-angle to fit even more into the frame than the previous iPhone 6S's 29mm (equivalent). The second lens, which is absent in the standard iPhone 7, offers double the focal length, to act like a 2x multiplier; a 56mm equivalent. That's the opposite direction to other manufacturers, which is an inte...