Yes, this is Android Police, but there's no ignoring the annual feeding frenzy that is the launch of the newest iPhone. With the iPhone 7, Apple has actually introduced a number of features some have long wished the brand would include on their devices: water and dust protection, dual stereo speakers, and a base model with 32GB of storage were seeming no-brainers, but this is Apple we're talking about.
While they remain predictable in their boldly high pricing, the 7 and 7 Plus have turned heads - for reasons both good and bad. The removal of the headphone jack has been a strong point of contention among consumers and critics alike, and while the 7 Plus's new dual-camera arrangement has been highly lauded, it's not present on the standard iPhone 7. iOS 10, too, has been met with mixed reactions for a number of reasons, and still seems to regularly play catch-up with many of the features introduced in Android last year. (Admittedly, almost all people buying Android phones today are still using that version.)
Apple's edge in mobile processors seems to continue unabated, with the zippy A10 providing single-threaded CPU performance nearly double that of the fastest parts produced by the likes of Qualcomm and Samsung. To say the iPhone isn't as "cutting-edge" as any Android phone, frankly, does a disservice to the huge amount of work Apple puts into building these devices almost from the ground up.
Still, there are the constant Apple caveats: your freedom to modify your device or easily install apps from outside Apple's walled garden is exceptionally limited. When iOS 11 lands, there's no guarantee your top-of-the-line iPhone 7 Plus will get every goody the new 7S (or whatever it's called) will, and you can be assured it won't get all the new features by the time iOS 12 rolls around. But you will get iOS 12, 13, and likely 14, too. And if you're shopping from a strictly function:dollar ratio, there's no doubt the iPhone will always lose in such metrics when devices like the OnePlus 3, ZTE Axon 7, and Nexus 6P exist.
So, does Apple's latest have you interested? In a way past iPhones may not have? Why? Why not? Vote in the poll and discuss in the comments below.