Features to please the Apple faithful

Learn and Talk III – Lesson 65

Preview
Words Expressions

1. mojo /ˈməʊ.dʒəʊ/ [noun] lead into

a quality that attracts people to you and makes you successful and full of energy
at long last
2. glut /ɡlʌt/ [noun]
a supply of something that is much greater than can be sold or is needed or wanted
better late than never
3. snappy /ˈsnæ p.i/ [adjective]
modern and stylish get rid of

4. bolster /ˈbəʊl.stər/ [verb] go nuts

to support or improve something or make it stronger

5. clumsy /ˈklʌm.zi/ [adjective]

lacking grace in movement or posture

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 Learn and Talk III – Lesson 65

Article

Features to please the Apple faithful

SAN FRANCISCO— Rarely have there been such

modest expectations leading into an iPhone launch. All
we’ve heard lately is how Apple has misplaced its mojo
and how the entire smartphone industry has been
languishing in an innovation glut.
Apple found that mojo. No, the company didn’t go gaga
with a ton of new features on the $649 (on up) iPhone 7
and $769 iPhone 7 Plus that Tim Cook unveiled at San
Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium Wednesday
here, and that will hit stores a week from Friday.
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 Learn and Talk III – Lesson 65

What Apple has done is providing a lot of stuff that is sure to please the
faithful. Start with the fact that Apple, at long last, has made iPhones that
are water and dust resistant. Yes, Samsung (and others) got there first.
But better late than never still translates into “better.”

We'll all appreciate the longer battery life that Apple promises: if true,
iPhone 7 gets two extra hours of juice compared to the iPhone 6S. Same
goes for double the storage capacities (32GB is the new entry point),
though Apple still doesn't provide a memory card slot for expanding that
capacity as some competitors do. The phones are likely to be snappier,
what with a new A10 Fusion chip that company executive Phil Schiller has
likened to a “rocket ship.”

The graphics have also been bolstered. The home button is more
versatile. Most of the Apple love, though, went to the cameras on
the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, the latter of which gets two rear
cameras that will let you easily switch from a wide-angle shot to a
telephoto.

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 Learn and Talk III – Lesson 65

Both phones get a larger f/1.8 aperture that should improve low light
photography. The 12-megapixel camera on the phones gain optical
image stabilization, a wider color gamut and other features that have
me excited to start shooting some pictures with the latest handsets.
Now let me get to the biggest bummer of the whole event. As had
been widely rumored, Apple indeed removed the standard
headphone jack from the iPhone 7 that has been on every iPhone to
date, and virtually every other modern cell phone that is out there.

Apple has done this sort of thing before, acting, before others do, on
getting rid of stuff we’ve been seemingly using forever. Remember for
example how we all went nuts when Apple removed optical drives from
Mac computers? Few of us miss them now. Still, the removal of the
standard headphone jack is one of those things sure to annoy users. Apple
is supplying free new wired EarPods that connect to the phone’s Lightning
connector, which for Apple anyway, becomes the new standard for
headphones. An adapter will also be included at no charge that will let you
plug in your older headphones. Such adapters tend to be clumsy to use.

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 Learn and Talk III – Lesson 65

Discussion

1. Do you like iPhone? Why?

2. What feature do you think is the most important for a mobile
phone?
3. What is your expectation for future phones?

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 Learn and Talk III – Lesson 65

Further Reading

Apple is buying time to the Next Big Thing

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2016/09/07/apple-buying-time-next-big-thing/89539688/

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