Wesley's Tool-Box

With the official release of the iPhone 7 series in Korea set to be on October 21, just a week away as of this writing, I've been asked about how different the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are. This is because I own both. If we disregard the obvious differences that come due to the size (e.g. screen resolution, weight, and battery), the camera is still a key differentiator. It used to be that only the Plus got the Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). This year, the smaller model got that as well, so the perk for the Plus model is an additional camera module in telephoto mode that provides 2x optical zoom. Naturally, I wanted to see how good it was. I should note that the wide angle camera on both 7 and 7 Plus are identical. Keep reading if the extra camera is worth the trouble.



When there is sufficient light, the telephoto camera provides excellent results. You can basically zoom into stuff and see it closer in more detail. I've been using this a lot outside with satisfactory results. But after a while I began to see a lot of limitations as well.


For one thing, it won't work with an object that's too close to you. This isn't surprising at all if you've used zoom lenses on a camera. Longer focal length tends to come with longer minimum focusing distance. The wide angle camera can focus on an item as close as 8.5cm (3.3") away, but the telephoto camera can only do up to 28cm (11"). To get a macro shot, always stick to the wide angle.

Continuing from the last post, let's look at the indoor performance of the front camera. I took photos of a table in the living room where the kids have built what's essentially a toy village with Lego blocks. It should serve to show differences in colour reproduction, if any.


With the exception of iPhone 4, the colours look more or less correct, which is good. Also, the iPhone 7 did manage to take clear photos when the objects are closer, so it's doing a good job as its intended role of a selfie camera. 6S Plus result is fuzzier, but this time it can be attributed to a slight camera shake and would likely be nearly as good as 7 but with less pixels otherwise.

Next up, I took shots of the same scene with the rear camera, once with good indoor lighting and once with faint indirect lighting so I could observe how much noise can be seen for each cases. For the darker shots, I tried to have the camera maintain at or close to ISO 800 to make a close comparison.

It is pretty safe to assume that the latest iPhone has the best camera in general. The tradition continues with iPhone 7, which allows me to take impressive photos like the one you see here. But to truly appreciate the improvements, a good round of comparison is in order.

First, let's look at the basic specifications as reported by the EXIF data. For the rear camera, we have these values:

And for the front camera:
Last year's rear camera was mostly about the increased pixel count; with the quality improvement taking a back seat. Front camera did jump out of the 1.2-megapixel hole, which was overdue. This year, enhancing the image quality is back in focus. The sensor can now capture on a much wider colour space (DCI-P3, a.k.a. Display-P3, instead of the traditional sRGB), and the wider aperture on the new rear lens (f/1.8, up from f/2.2) should allow for lower noise and brighter night shots. Meanwhile, the front camera can now take 7-megapixel photos.

As far as changes go, iPhone 7 is doing a big jump we've come to expect when the major number changes (e.g. iPhone 5S to iPhone 6). It just happens to be that Apple was happy to keep the general shape and size for the third generation. Personally, this seems like Apple is happy with these design decisions instead of being lazy. After all, Original iPhone style survived three generations as well until thinner design became feasible.

In any case, the packaging of the iPhone 7 is also largely the same as the previous 4.7" iPhones. Two major differences, other than the phone itself, are the photo of the iPhone on the box and the bundled EarPod earphones using the Lightning connector instead of the 3.5mm earphone jack. 3.5mm to Lightning adapter is included for those who need to use the existing earphones.


Speaking of the earphone jack, iPhone 7 indeed no longer has one as you can see here. This has been the source of much online drama, but I expect it to simmer down as time goes on, much like when Lightning connector itself was introduced with iPhone 5.

iPhones and iPads bought (or intended to be sold) in either Korea or Japan has the camera shutter sound forcibly turned on at maximum volume no matter what sound setting is used. I've noted this three years ago. This is due to local regulations, but even making a screenshot causes the same sound, which is inconvenient.

Recently, though, someone at Ruliweb has posted an interesting tip that can override this if you're using iOS 10.0.1. I would like to share this information here.

1. Run Settings app and go to General > Accessibility

2. Scroll to the bottom and enter "Accessibility Shortcut" option. Select "AssistiveTouch".

3. Back in the Accessibility menu, scroll up to the middle. Find and enter "AssistiveTouch" option.

4. Enter "Customize Top Level Menu" and remove icons until there's only one left. Select "Mute" for this icon. (If you leave two or more icons, this tip will not work.)

When you triple-click the home button, a small floating AssistiveTouch button will appear on the screen. When you press it, the system sound will be muted completely, including the camera shutter sound and alarm. Pressing the AssistiveTouch button again will re-enable the system sound, and triple-clicking the home button will hide the AssistiveTouch button.

In a nutshell, you can use AssistiveTouch to disable or enable camera shutter sound at will. User reports indicate that the tip works across all devices, including iPhone 7 that I personally confirmed. However, it doesn't seem to work on iOS 9. Therefore it isn't clear if this is a bug or an intended effect. Use at your discretion.