AT&T Next basically guarantees I’ll upgrade my iPhone every year. I mean, why not? I wasn’t as excited this year as in previous years, but I was intrigued by the dual rear camera setup in the 7 Plus. So I stayed up till midnight and… didn’t order an iPhone. Apple’s website glitched. AT&T’s website was barely usable and wouldn’t complete a transaction. I told myself I’d just pick one up in a couple of weeks when the chaos died down.
The next morning, at 7am, I was back at it again, trying to order my 7 Plus. AT&T’s website was working again, and the ship times were shorter than Apple’s so I ordered mine through AT&T. I wasn’t quick enough to be included in the first round of ship dates, but mine would ship a week later. I would survive. Talk about #firstworldproblems.
Skip ahead to today… I waited patiently (right?) for the phone to arrive. I heard the FedEx truck coming up the cul-de-sac, so I headed for the front door. I opened it just in time to see the FedEx guy tossing (literally tossing–as in throwing at my door from 10-15 feet away,) the box containing my phone onto my doorstep. He hollered out, “have a good day!” And sprinted back to his truck. Kids these days.
Setup was pretty standard. I had an encrypted iTunes backup of my 6s Plus from this morning, so I restored the 7 from that. Reconnected the Apple Watch, moved my purchased TriMet tickets to the new phone, and set my 6s Plus aside to wipe and send back in a few days.
Unfortunately, because of the dual camera setup on the 7, my Twelve South BookBook case didn’t work. It fit, but the camera hole didn’t line up with the new lenses. Balls. Twelve South doesn’t have new BookBooks available yet, so I had to grab a temporary case from Best Buy. The Platinum black leather wallet case is a sad substitute, but it’ll do for a temporary case.
On the way to Best Buy, I reconnected the Automatic Adapter in my car. That was pretty simple and straightforward.
The Camera
One of the main reasons I decided to upgrade this year was the camera on the 7 Plus. The optical zoom intrigued me.
Optical zoom is always better than digital zoom, so the addition of an extra camera is a nice touch. That coupled with iOS 10’s RAW image handling makes mobile photography even better. It’s still not a DSLR (or even a solid P&S) replacement, but since your phone is almost always with you, it’s a welcome improvement.
I’ve had the phone for almost a month now. Gotta say I’m on board with what most others are saying. The 7 isn’t a huge improvement over the 6s. I don’t notice any significant speed improvements. There are two benefits for me: the improved dual-camera setup, and the fact that the 128GB model is now cheaper.
Battery life seems similiar to my 6s. Maybe a hair shorter, but acceptable. It took me awhile to get used to the new Home button, but it’s growing on me.
Who else has the 7? What are your thoughts?
Daniel Hedrick 
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