iPhone 7

iPhone 7 launches in India today, starts at nearly $900 due to high import taxes

As of today, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are available for purchase in India ahead of the country's gift-giving season. As CNBC reported, the new handsets cost more than the average Indian citizen earns in six months due to local import taxes which jack up retail price of the entry-level $649 32GB iPhone 7 to as high as $900, or a whopping $1.382 for the flagship 256GB iPhone 7 Plus model.

Apple’s iPhone 7 Lightning headphone adapter packs in a surprising amount of circuitry

Repair wizards over at iFixit along with their pals at Creative Electron gave Apple’s new $9 iPhone 7 Lightning headphone adapter a thorough X-ray treatment. The analysis has revealed a surprising amount of circuitry inside of the dongle.

Most notably, it packs in a pretty unique integrated circuit that's most likely a built-in digital-to-analog (DAC) converter. There’s actually a lot going on in the diminutive adapter aside from the DAC, writes iFixit, including things like an integrated amplifier and an analog-to-digital-converter (ADC).

“We’re surprised how much electronics Apple was able to include inside this little cable,” said Creative Electron, which builds X-ray inspection systems for electronics.

Apple issues a statement regarding sapphire protection on iPhone 7 camera lens

Coverage of YouTuber JerryRigEverything's scratch test of the iPhone 7's iSight camera lens wasn't lost on Apple. In the video, the device's camera lens is shown attracting scratch marks at a level six on the Mohs scale of hardness. That's quite surprising given both the official iPhone stats webpage and Apple's marketing boss Phil Schiller insist all current iPhones use sapphire for camera lens protection.

Now, pure sapphire crystal should sustain scratches up to a level nine, so it's odd that the iPhone 7's camera lens would scratch more easily than it should. As it turns out, the sapphire “issue” was serious enough to warrant an official statement from Apple.

Video: all iPhone sapphire lenses scratch tested

As you may know, Apple's marketing boss Phil Schiller recently insisted that rumors of the iPhone 7's Home button and camera lens not being covered in pure sapphire were false. However, YouTuber JerryRigEverything has found that these parts do leave scratch marks at a level six on the Mohs scale of hardness, which is odd given that pure sapphire crystal should sustain scratches up to a level nine.

Apple on its website states that all of the iPhones it currently sells offer sapphire protection for the Touch ID sensor and iSight camera, which doesn't explain why these parts appear to scratch more easily than they should.

Could Apple be using a sapphire/glass hybrid or even a normal tempered glass rather than a 100 percent sapphire crystal? That's what JerryRigEverything set out to find in a comprehensive scratch test video of the iPhone SE/6/6s/7 series.

Wallpapers of the week: iPhone 7 internals

Typically, the Wallpapers of the Week section adds beautiful, photo quality images to our catalogue. From galaxy to geometric CGI, our wallpapers focus on the world around us. However, in a twist, today's wallpapers help us look through our iPhone screens into a world of circuitry.

iFixit is well known for breaking down the latest devices to determine repairability, provide walkthroughs on the internals, and create repair kits for those looking to complete their own work. As jailbreakers and modders at iDB, we are big fans of their work. Today's wallpapers are full resolution images of iPhone internal components. Making your own device a window into itself.

iPhone 7 to arrive in more countries starting October 7

As confirmed by various news reports, authorized resellers and local Apple websites around the world, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be expanding in additional markets beginning October 7. The handsets will be available for purchase in India and Ukraine starting October 7.

A week later, on October 14, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will arrive in Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Montenegro, South Africa and Turkey.

Apple airs new ‘Balloons’ ad highlighting iPhone 7 and expressive messaging

Apple's much improved Messages app in iOS 10 is more expressive than ever, especially with nicely done animations that take over the entire screen.

One of the fullscreen effects in Messages, a bunch of balloons that fly up from the bottom of the screen, is the central theme of a new iPhone 7 commercial that Apple posted on its YouTube channel today.

The 30-second commercial wraps up with the message, “The all-new iPhone 7, with expressive messages. Practically magic.”

Adobe updates Lightroom for iOS with support for iPhone 7 Plus dual-lens camera & more

iOS 10 provides new APIs allowing third-party photography apps to capture and edit raw image data in the DNG format, and Lightroom for iPhone and Lightroom for iPad are among first apps to implement photo capture in the highest possible RAW quality. Earlier this week, Adobe released updates to Lightroom for iOS to help users take advantage of the new iPhone 7 camera’s raw shooting capabilities, including support for the iPhone 7 Plus's dual-lens camera.

Alto’s Adventure now supports haptic feedback via iPhone 7’s new Taptic Engine

Developer Snowman pushed a nice little update to Alto's Adventure, its award winning endless snowboard odyssey for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, which implements rich haptic feedback for users with iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus devices. Apple allows developers to create custom vibrations on the iPhone 7's improved Taptic Engine via a Taptic API.

Snowman is among the first developers to have implemented Taptic feedback.

iFixit publishes detailed iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus repair guides

Want to learn how to perform DIY repairs of the iPhone 7/Plus? Look no further than iFixit, the world's top authority when it comes to repairing consumer electronics devices like smartphones, tablets, game consoles, computers and so forth. Today, the site published a series of repair guides with detailed instructions on replacing the iPhone 7/Plus display, battery and the Taptic Engine.

Twelve South’s HiRise 2 Deluxe dock looks great with the new iPhone 7

Twelve South is at it again, making great accessories for Apple products. The company’s release of the HiRise 2 and HiRise 2 Deluxe charging docks earlier this month brought forth a redesign with new color options and improved stability for larger devices.

In this review, we’ll take a closer look at the HiRise 2 Deluxe in black, a color made to match Apple’s new black iPhone 7 & 7 Plus finish.

What’s jet black anyway?

Apple's new jet black iPhone 7 is what I believe to be the flagship finish for this year's iPhone. This is the one that Apple features in most of its promo materials, and I assume this is the one Jony Ive is carrying right now in his man purse, along with early prototypes of the iPhone 8.

Getting that gorgeous glossy finish isn't exactly an easy process. According to Apple, "the new jet black finish is accomplished through an innovative nine-step process of anodization and polish for a uniform, glossy finish, achieving its beautiful, high-gloss black finish even required a new process."

But what is jet black anyway?