Apple announcement: iPhone 7 is water-resistant, eliminates headphone jack

Apple unveils new iPhone 7 Apple's iPhone 7 is coming, with some big changes. The phone will be waterproof and won't have a headphone jack.

Apple unveiled its upcoming slate of products at the company's annual Apple Event in California Wednesday.

The event kicked off with a video featuring Apple CEO Tim Cook and comedian James Corden, in one of Corden's popular "carpool karaoke" segments. Pharrell also hopped in the car for a rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama." The video ends with Cook being dropped off at the auditorium for the beginning of his presentation.

Cook kicked off the presentation with the announcement that Nintendo's flagship character, Mario, will soon be coming to games on the App Store. Famed Nintendo designer  Shigeru Miyamoto took the stage to announce his company's first game, "Super Mario Run," a side-scrolling, automatic-running game starring the company's popular plumber. Miyamoto touted the game as being easy to play with one hand. He added the game will be a pay-once-and-play app, so there will be no push for users to make in-app purchases.

Mario's App Store debut will come just months after Nintendo's other iconic property, Pokemon, took mobile gaming by play with "Pokemon Go."

Apple also announced Watch integration for "Pokemon Go."

iOS 10

Cook said iOS 10 will have more user-friendly features, including Uber integration into the phone's Maps app, and an automatic "wake" feature that kicks in whenever you pick up your device.

The new operating system will also include integration for "smart" products, through its Apple HomeKit feature. Any product with a "Works with Apple HomeKit" sticker should be compatible.

iPhone 7

Cook called the iPhone "the best-selling product of its kind in the history of the world" with over 1 billion products sold.

He then introduced Apple executive Phil Schiller to unveil the new iPhone 7 design.

Schiller revealed that the iPhone 7 will do away with the industry-standard 3.5-mm headphone jack, with headphones instead connecting through the device's lightning connector. That means users will have to choose between charging their device or listening to it on headphones.

The lightning-connector headphones will come in the box with the phone, along with a 3.5-mm-to-lightning connector jack.

Schiller said the change comes down to "courage," as Apple attempts to move beyond the 150-year-old audio jack design.

Next, he introduced Apple's AirPod headphones, designed to eliminate the headphone cord altogether, in favour of Bluetooth-enabled earpods. Although judging by their size, they'll likely eliminate a few dollars from your wallet every couple months, after you lose one or both of the grape-sized buds.

The AirPod headphones have a five-hour battery life, and will charge when inserted into their carrying case.

Schiller added that Beats by Dre will release its own line of wireless headphones using the AirPod technology.

The Plus version of the phone will include two 12-megapixel, rear-facing cameras, with the second camera's 56-mm, telephoto lens designed to improve the phone's magnification capabilities. Schiller says the zoom capability will be more in line with high-end photography cameras, instead of relying on the digital zoom employed by older iPhone models.

The regular phone model will still have only one 12-megapixel camera. Both models will have an optical stabilizer and a wide aperture included with their cameras. The front-facing camera will capture seven megapixels.

Schiller touted several other features for the iPhone 7's design, including a sleeker, water-resistant construction and a force-sensitive, solid-state home button.

The phone will also be faster than previous models, with a next-generation processing chip that Schiller described as a "rocket ship." He said the processors operate 40 per cent faster than the ones in the iPhone 6s, which will allow the phone to run "console-level games."

Schiller didn't dwell too long on the phone's battery life, which he slipped in after listing off 10 key features of the new phone.

The phone will come with either 32, 128 or 256 gigabytes of storage, and will retail for the same prices as the current 6S model.

The new phones will ship on Sept. 16, with orders starting on Friday.

Several hiccups occured online during the Apple Event, with details of the new iPhone 7 leaking ahead of the official announcement.

First, Amazon posted a product description for the phone ahead of the announcement.

A short time later, Apple briefly posted details of the phone through its Twitter account, then deleted the tweets. However, several users managed to capture screenshots of the tweets.

Apple Watch Series 2

During the annoucement for the next Apple Watch, the company said the Watch will be water-resistant to a depth of 50 metres. The device's speakers actually spit out water to remain clear.

Additionally, the next-generation Apple Watch will have an additional processor, and will include GPS capabilities. The GPS will allow joggers to see where they ran on their route through the neighbourhood, including where they went fast and where they slowed down.

Apple also introduced its Apple Watch Nike Plus edition, with several features geared toward runners, including a daily prompt to go for a run.

Users divided over headphone changes

Apple's move to eliminate the 3.5-mm headphone jack sparked annoyance among many fans, as did the company's introduction of its small AirPod wireless headphones.

Many wondered why the company was trying to "reinvent the wheel" with a new headphone jack, while other predicted many lost AirPods in the future.

With files from The Associated Press