Apple Reveals iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

As expected, Apple's event today brought with it news regarding the latest additions to its line of iPhones.

However, the news came before the event really got underway, as Amazon took a page live early this morning revealing the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Apple itself then sent out a now-deleted tweet (below) which unveiled the iPhone 7 and the fact that it's water-resistant.

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We then learned further specifics during the event itself. The phone's home button has been designed to be a solid-state, force-sensitive input, meaning you don't physically push it in. The screen is now 25 percent brighter and features wide-color gamut support. The system's speakers have been upgraded to a stereo setup.

As rumored, Apple is doing away with the 3.5 mm headphone jack; wired headphones, like Apple's EarPods, will connect through the lightning port. These new EarPods, as well as an adapter that allows 3.5 mm cables to plug in to the lightning port, will be included in the box. Apple also revealed new wireless headphones called AirPods, which resemble EarPods. They offer only five hours of battery life, although you can charge them by simply sticking them in their carrying case, which gives 24 hours of battery life. They can connect to an iPhone or Apple Watch by simply placing them near the device, and you can access Siri by double tapping one of them while they're in your ears. They ship in late October for $159.

The camera has been improved so it's more stable and faster, and its flash provides more light. The iPhone 7 Plus has a second camera; one is a wide-angle lens, while the extra one is a telephoto lens. This creates a built-in optical 2x zoom you can access by pressing a button on the touchscreen. You can also use a digital zoom up to 10x.

There is also, of course, new hardware on the side. There's a four-core CPU called the A10 Fusion that Apple says is the fastest ever offered in a smartphone. It has two high-performance cores and two high-efficiency cores, the latter of which are used for certain tasks to improve battery life. There's also a new six-core graphics chip that is faster than what's been seen in previous iPhones.

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The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus take on the price points that the 6S and 6S Plus currently occupy ($649 and $769), but with higher storage options: 32 GB, 128 GB, and 64 GB. (The 6S and 6S Plus will drop in price, but be available in new sizes: 32 GB and 128 GB.) Preorders start this Friday, September 9, and begin shipping on September 16. The new operating system, iOS 10, launches on September 13.

Today's news comes almost a year to the day after Apple revealed the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. The major addition with those was 3D Touch, along with the usual improvements to the camera and internal hardware.