Hard to say what Apple will do regarding pricing, it depends on what size of 7 Plus you want (currently the options are 32 Gb, 128 Gb and 256 Gb) and it depends if you buy on contract or plan to buy outright. When new phones are released Apple often offers the older phone only in the smaller sizes so they may eventually drop the 7 Plus in 256 Gb once the new phones have been released. On contract I wouldn't be surprised if you may find some $99 deals although a 7 Plus in 128 Gb probably still would cost at least $199 on contract. If you plan to buy a 7 Plus you are only getting the last generation so you can always go on the Apple website and compare the price of the current iPhone 7 Plus and last year's 6S Plus, this should give you an idea of what may come, beyond this it's anybody's guess.
The 7 Plus should support iOS at least through to version 14 or 15. Assuming Apple continues to count up by one each year, iOS 11 will be released this year (2017), iOS 12 will be next year, iOS 13 in 2019, iOS 14 in 2020 and iOS 15 in 2021. Below is a listing of iPhones starting with the 3GS in 2009 (the first with Voiceover) and which iOS version they were released with: 2009: iPhone 3GS with iOS 3 2010: iPhone 4 with iOS 4 2011: iPhone 4S with iOS 5 2012: iPhone 5/5C with iOS 6 2013: iPhone 5S with iOS 7 (first 64 bit) 2014: iPhone 6/6 Plus with iOS 8 2015: iPhone 6S/6S Plus with iOS 9 2016: iPhone 7/7 Plus with iOS 10 2017: iPhone 7S/7S Plus/iPhone Pro with iOS 11 I didn't list the iPhone SE which was released in March last year sort of half way between the 6S/6S Plus and the 7/7plus and which originally came out with iOS 9. The last one for this year is of course speculation as to the name, but rumours strongly point towards 3 iPhones this year, a "normal" 7S/7S Plus with a possibly new form factor and a new even larger iPhone with all the latest bells and whistles like an OLED screen, wireless charging and like the old 4/4S with a design which has glass both front and back. The iPhone 6 Plus, 6S Plus and 7 Plus all have a 5.5 inch screen, this new high-end iPhone which is rumoured to cost well above $1,000 US is said to have about a 5.8 inch screen and apparently this year it is the only one with OLED screen and wireless charging. The difference between the old home button and that of the iPhone 7/7 Plus is that the new home button really isn't a button at all, it has no mechanical part and dos not move/push in at all. There still is a "button-shaped" indentation in the screen which gives you the sense there is a button there, but it's just part of the glass and when you press it all you get is haptic feedback, a vibration similar to what 3D Touch feels like. Eventually there won't be a hoe button at all and maybe even this years new high-end phone could have technology where Touch Id works anywhere you put your finger on the screen and there are even rumours that things like the volume buttons on the side maybe touch sensitive areas instead of actual buttons. I think in a few years we all should get used to the idea that this is the way things will go. One advantage of this of course is that it is much easier to make the iPhone even more waterproof, the less mechanical buttons/openings there are the easier it is to keep it sealed. I think in about 3 months the rumours will start to take on more concrete form and we'll really start to find out what this falls new iPhones will be like. I usually like my toys although as I get older (and hopefully wiser) I often don't feel quite as compelled to pick up all the latest gadgets, but unless the regular iPhone 7S and 7S Plus have significant improvements I may very well hold on to my iPhone 6S Plus for a third year which would be a first, so far I have always upgraded after 2 years and, when I bought my first iPhone 4 in 2010 I upgraded the next year to the 4S in 2011 because that is when SIRI was first available on the 4S but it was not supported on the 4. I didn't find the 5 worthwhile and skipped it but upgraded in 2013 to the 5S which was the first iPhone with a 64 bit processor, then I again skipped the 6/6 Plus and upgraded in 2015 when the 6S/6S Plus came out. Last fall I skipped the 7/7 Plus upgrade which I think was pretty minor and the loss of the headphone jack without the ability of wireless charging to me is not a good move hence I really want wireless charging before I upgrade to an iPhone which I can't charge and use with wired headphones at the same time and no, I don't consider having to use a $40 splitter to accomplish this a good option and neither do I think the current first generation of Airpods live up to their price and technological capabilities. Regards, Sieghard -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Marissa Solaun Sent: Monday, February 20, 2017 6:37 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: iphone 7+ questions. A few questions: 1. If I purchase a 7+ (about the time the new iphone is released in Sept) how much would I look to be paying? 2. how many versions of IOS would the 7+ support? 3. can anyone explain how the home button is different than in previous versions? -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
