Somewhat akin to Intel, Apple has trained consumers on its "tick-tock" cadence of releasing a newly designed iPhone and following it up a year later with an optimized "s" variant. That's been the formula since the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS were released in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

Blazing fast A10 Fusion SoC; higher-capacity storage options; IP67 dust and liquid protection; improved camera system; Taptic Engine is very convincing at simulating a physical button press; slightly larger battery

Poor quality secondary (stereo) speaker; third year with the same design; no headphone jack -- which didn't bother me but is a point of contention for some

The iPhone 7 Plus is the best iPhone money can buy, hands down. Like the iPhone 7, it's not an essential upgrade if you have an iPhone 6s Plus that you're happy with, or you want to hold out for the 2017 iPhone, which will be the 10th anniversary and, rumor has it, the big switch to OLED .

Dual-lens camera takes great photos; Longest battery life of any iPhone; Water-resistant

No headphone jack; can't charge and listen to wired headphones at the same time

Apple's iPhone 7 Plus brings a solid hardware upgrade over its predecessor but fails to impress with substantial improvements in design or looks. Is that an issue? It depends on how you look at it.

Apple made a nice phone here. The two key features that may entice you to upgrade are the Taptic Engine experience and the Dual Lens camera... otherwise, if you're happy with your iPhone 6 or 6s Plus then keep them.

Taptic Engine provides a new level of user experience than ever before on an iPhone; Portrait Mode and the dual camera are probably the things that should tempt you to upgrade

Design is nice but dated; iOS 10 picks up a ton of new features but the UI needs more user customization

The iPhone 7 Plus's dual-lens camera and long battery life give it the edge over the iPhone 7.

Zoom right in on the iPhone 7 Plus: It's the iPhone to buy in 2016.

Dual-camera tech is impressive; It's finally water-resistant; Speedy processor; iOS 10 is smooth and slick; Attractive aluminum uni-body design

No headphone jack; Expensive

We've been using the iPhone 7 Plus (128GB) as our main daily driver for the last 48 hours and we wanted to quickly share with you guys our initial thoughts and observations about it. This is also a great way to validate our previous commentary, "No, You Don't Need to Upgrade to an iPhone 7" .

It takes a decent (though aging) overall design, adds important under-the-hood changes, removes a port that probably didn't need to be removed, adds an awesome new telephoto camera, becomes water-resistant and calls it a day.

Solid; sturdy build quality; Lightning-fast performance; Excellent camera; neat zoom features; Reliable all-day (often multi-day) battery; Water resistance

No headphone jack; Design iconic; but equally dated; Bulky size compared to 5.5-inch Androids; Slow charging; Expensive SIM-free price

It had a bigger screen, but with a larger price tag to match, we weren't convinced that the upgrade was worth it.

Sharp; punchy picture; Class-leading audio; Solid build; Fast performance; Strong battery life; Excellent cameras

Feels a little on the big side now; Expensive; No high-res audio

Unwrap the phone and you are greeted with the same luxurious unimetal body that we have come to expect from Apple. And this time there are no antenna lines across the back to interrupt the sheet, just the bright and lustrous logo to punctuate it all.

Dual cameras; Premium build; Water resistant; Fantastic battery life

Very expensive; no headphone jack; design feels a bit faded; Taptic home button is tricky to get used to