What's the difference between the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 8?
The newest iPhones can feel like something out of the Jetsons. It’s a tiny robot in your hand that can do almost anything you ask it to. For some, that’s wonderful. For others, it’s a bit overwhelming (totally understandable).
Sometimes all you need is a device that will take pictures, make phone calls, and let you text. No extra bells and whistles. If this sounds like you, your kids, or your parents, then it’s worth looking into the iPhones 7 and 8. They may be older models, but they’re still completely legitimate choices when it comes to what you need.
The iPhone 7 and 8 have a lot of similarities, so let’s go through those first. Then we’ll get to the differences.
The iPhone 7 and 8 both have…
- A 4.7” Retina HD Display
- 4G LTE Advanced
- Up to 13 hours of video playback, up to 40 hours of audio playback
- Touch ID
- Water resistance to a depth of 1 metre for up to 30 minutes
- 1334-by-750-pixel resolution at 326 ppi
- A single 12-megapixel Wide camera, with optical image stabilisation and digital zoom up to 5x
- 1080p HD video recording at 25 fps, 30 fps or 60 fps
- Apple Pay
- Lightning Connector
Those are the general similarities, but now let’s get into where decisions are made: the difference. What will you get from the iPhone 8 that you won’t get from the iPhone 7?
Colour
The iPhone 7 comes in silver, black, gold, and rose gold. The iPhone 8 comes in silver, space grey, and gold. This probably shouldn’t be your ultimate deciding factor though. After all, cases do exist.
Chip
The iPhone 7 comes equipped with the A10 Fusion chip, while the iPhone 8 has the A11 Bionic chip and a neural engine. What does this mean? The A11 chip is considered to be much faster than the A10. You probably won’t notice a big difference, but if you’re going to be using the phone a lot, it’s something to consider.
4K Video
Both the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 8 have 4K recording capabilities, but the iPhone 8 edges out the 7 in terms of quality. The iPhone 7 has 4K video recording capabilities at 25 fps or 30 fps, whereas the iPhone 8 has 4K video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps or 60 fps.
FaceTime
Again, both devices have FaceTime capabilities, but the iPhone 8 has FaceTime HD at 1080p over Wi-Fi.
Battery
Both models have the same battery life in terms of video and audio playback, but how they charge is a bit different. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 can of course both be charged by plugging into a computer or power adapter, but the iPhone 8 also supports Qi wireless charging and can fast charge up to 50% charge in 30 minutes13 with a 20W adapter or higher (sold separately)
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 are great options for someone looking for a phone that does the basics (and does them well). If you’re not dead set on getting the shiniest new toy, and you want to do your part to help reduce the environmental impact of your phone, then a pre-loved older model is absolutely the way to go.
