Apple is expected to launch iPhone 7 in September with numerous upgrades
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are still two of the hottest smartphones on the market, but already people are looking forward to the next iPhone. While likely to receive the stop-gap suffix of "s", to become the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, there is a chance Apple could move away from it’s typical naming system and opt for the iPhone 7.
With around seven months to go until the new iPhone launch, there's already a huge amount of speculation out there about its upgraded specs and features.
As yet, very little concrete information has leaked. Unlike the iPhone 6, where pictures appeared early on in development, the next iPhone is still a mystery.
This means one of two things: either its design is going to remain the same (providing legitimacy to iPhone 6s rumours), or Apple has managed to plug holes in its supply chain. We’re betting on the former.
iPhone 7: release date
The iPhone 7 or 6s and it's Plus counterpart are likely to be introduced at a special event in San Francisco around 8 September 2015.
Why then? Because it's in line with the company's usual pattern of unveiling its new handsets on the second Tuesday in September each year.
We believe it's likely to go on sale in the UK ten days later, on 18 September. You can pretty-much guarantee there will be a new iPhone in the stores before the end of September. If we're wrong about this, we'll be very very surprised.
iPhone 7 : Price
While there's no confirmed price for Apple's upcoming iPhone, we believe it will be priced at the $650 mark for the standard model, and $750 for the Plus version.
Since the iPhone 4, Apple's handset has launched at roughly the same price of $649. Judging from past experience, it's likely the iPhone 7 or 6s will also start at $649. As we've had less experience with Plus pricing, seeing as only one iteration exists, it's more likely Apple could revise its pricing model. However, you can safely expect it to retail around the $700 - $750 mark.
iPhone 7: rumoured specs
Many manufacturers and developers refuse to comment on rumour and speculation. It makes trying to confirm the existence of anything not officially announced rather tricky. Thankfully for you, we do comment on rumour and speculation, so here's what's being talked about regarding the iPhone 7's specifications.
New iPhone: display
Size
Rumours are circulating that Apple will be releasing three versions of the iPhone 7 or 6s. Come September, we could be seeing a successor to the iPhone 6 and its larger sibling, but also the reintroduction of a 4.7in "budget" handset akin to a successor of the iPhone 5c.
Honestly, this would be a sensible move on Apple's part, enabling it to cover all bases in terms of handset size.
However, it could also be seen as a retrograde step, or an admission that 5in phones are less popular than thought. Apple may save face by arguing it has always offered a smaller option as the 4in iPhone 5s is still on sale.
Force Touch screen
Just like in Apple's Apple Watch, and replicated in the trackpad of Apple's 2015 MacBook and MacBook Pro, the iPhone 7 is rumoured to come with a Force Touch screen.
Apple Insider kicked off the rumour in February, citing "people familiar with the development" when it claimed the two phones will be able to recognise the difference between a tap and a press and react accordingly. The Wall Street Journal corroborated this, saying its information came directly from Apple's suppliers.
With Force Touch appearing in both of Apple's latest products, it's far from unreasonable to believe this could be true. It seems the company's pushing this technology pretty hard and it would also set the new iPhone apart in an increasingly crowded smartphone market. It also separates it from the intimidating Samsung Galaxy S6.
Sapphire glass or Gorilla Glass?
Having failed to materialise in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the spectre of sapphire glass won't go away.
As Apple has, apparently, ironed out the supply chain issues blamed for the lack of sapphire screens on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, there's little reason for why the iPhone 7 won't benefit from it. It's even rumoured to have enlisted long-time partner Foxconn to help produce the material for its screens.
There is one major disadvantage to sapphire, it has a nasty habit of shattering. This is hardly ideal for a smartphone, with enough people dropping and shattering their screen as it is. Because of this, there's a lot of speculation around the iPhone 7 featuring a shatter-proof, scratch-proof Gorilla Glass replacement.
Cnet reported that James Clappin, an executive at Gorilla Glass manufacturer Corning, reportedly told investors on the 6 February that "sapphire was great for scratch performance but didn't fare well when dropped. So we created a product that offers the same superior damage resistance and drop performance of Gorilla Glass 4 with scratch resistance that approaches sapphire,"
Apple has a long-standing relationship with Corning, so it's very probable the company will continue to use Gorilla Glass on its new iPhones. As for a material that "approaches sapphire", topaz or quartz are likely candidates, as they sit at eight and seven respectively on Mohs scale of mineral hardness, whereas sapphire is at nine.
Edge-to-edge display
The next iPhones could, apparently, go head-to-head with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, with an edge-to-edge display. This would involve not only the removal of the bezel (see below for more details), but also a touch screen on one or both sides of the device.
This rumour also circulated in the run-up to the release of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, but was a no-show in the end. Will it be the same for the next iPhone
No more bezel
The new iPhones are also rumoured to have a 3D display. If true, this would have to be something pretty special to avoid the fate of the Amazon Fire Phone, which failed to impress with its own 3D technology.
iPhone 7: iOS
Generally the new iPhone comes as a flagship device for the latest iOS. While they're rarely ever released in conjunction with one another, with most new iOS builds rolling out in June, the new iPhone benefits from it the most.
With the iPhone 7 set to have NFC compatibility once more, perhaps we'll see a heavier reliance upon it outside of the Apple Pay environment. If the iPhone 7 did benefit from all of the features rumoured, a new iOS would be needed to facilitate it.
iPhone 7: camera
The iPhone has, for many, become their main camera, and Apple has focused more and more on improving its capabilities with each release. The same can be said of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, however we don't know how far Apple is willing to go.
The strongest rumour circulating at the moment would see the iPhone 7 come with a DSLR-quality camera built in. These rumours certainly have some validity as TechRadar reports that Apple has acquired LinX Computational Imaging. Clearly this means that we can expect a better camera in the iPhone 7.
However, if you believe analyst Jeff Pu from Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting in Taipei, the iPhone 7 won't see an upgrade from it's 8-megapixel snapper. Pu believes this because the CMOS sensors used in digital cameras are limited, thus hold back the potential for manufacturers to upgrade to 16 or 20-megapixel cameras.
To add more fuel to the fire, AppleInsider spotted a patent filling by Apple for a new mirror-driven optical image stabilisation technology.
iPhone 7: charger
While Apple introduced its Lightning connector in 2012, 2015's iPhone release is more than likely to feature a USB Type-C connector for charging.
Why USB Type-C? Well Apple's super-sleek new MacBook comes with only one connector, the USB Type-C, and there are rumours flying around that it helped work with Intel and others to create this new standard.
It's a little hard to believe Apple would want to help create a new standard that damages the simplicity and innovation of their own products, but it's certainly possible.
Another reason for why we can expect the iPhone 7 to adopt USB Type-C charging is due to pressure from the European Parliament. Having laid down the law on Apple, by 2017 the Californian tech company needs to comply with USB standard connections by 2017.
Of course, this is just within Europe, and I'm sure Apple still believes its Lightning technology is a more elegant solution for its high-end phones. So perhaps we'll see Apple release European and international versions of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
iPhone 7: processor
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are likely to have a new A9 processor and M9 motion coprocessor.
Each annual iteration of Apple's system-on-a-chip has been a significant improvement on the capabilities of its predecessor. The A7 offered double the graphics power of the A6, with twice the performance; the A8 on the other hand could only offer up a 50% improvement on graphical performance. It also only managed to eke out 25% more processor performance, and improve power efficiency by 50%.
As you may be able to tell, it's unclear what we can really expect from the A9 when it arrives in the iPhone 7.
Reports point to Samsung as the chip manufacturer of choice for Apple in 2015, securing most of its contracts. While this is relatively unsurprising given their background, it's worth remembering that the A8 processor in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus was manufactured by TSMC instead.
iPhone 7: features
For the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Apple will be dishing out new protection features for both iOS and the phone itself.
In regards to software, AppleInsider dug up a US patent application showing a system designed to identify usage patterns through machine learning. The idea is to trigger an alert, notification, or system action when the input the device receives suddenly changes.
Input into the device doesn't just mean how apps are used, but also accelerometer data, which can track gait, grammar and vocabulary, location data, and even magnetic fields.
Apple has also planned for the inevitable privacy concerns by stating it would be possible for users to deny access to certain data and anonymise users.
Additionally, KGI Securities analyst, who follows Apple closely, has said the new iPhone "will be equipped with an upgraded Touch ID module, with which Apple (US) intends to offer a better and safer Apple Pay user experience with reduced reading errors", according to MacRumours.
It wouldn't be a surprise if these features made their way into the iPhone 7 after the new US ruling requires manufacturers to put a "kill switch" on all of their phones sold inside the US.
In regards to the hardware side of things, the iPhone 7 could become rather clever.
Dropping a smartphone is, for many of us, a slow-motion disaster where we can only look on as our beloved item plunges towards the ground and, often, to its demise - or at least that of it's screen.
But Apple has come up with a couple of nifty, and slightly bizarre, tricks to resolve this problem.
With around seven months to go until the new iPhone launch, there's already a huge amount of speculation out there about its upgraded specs and features.
As yet, very little concrete information has leaked. Unlike the iPhone 6, where pictures appeared early on in development, the next iPhone is still a mystery.
This means one of two things: either its design is going to remain the same (providing legitimacy to iPhone 6s rumours), or Apple has managed to plug holes in its supply chain. We’re betting on the former.
The iPhone 7 or 6s and it's Plus counterpart are likely to be introduced at a special event in San Francisco around 8 September 2015.
Why then? Because it's in line with the company's usual pattern of unveiling its new handsets on the second Tuesday in September each year.
We believe it's likely to go on sale in the UK ten days later, on 18 September. You can pretty-much guarantee there will be a new iPhone in the stores before the end of September. If we're wrong about this, we'll be very very surprised.
iPhone 7 : Price
While there's no confirmed price for Apple's upcoming iPhone, we believe it will be priced at the $650 mark for the standard model, and $750 for the Plus version.
Since the iPhone 4, Apple's handset has launched at roughly the same price of $649. Judging from past experience, it's likely the iPhone 7 or 6s will also start at $649. As we've had less experience with Plus pricing, seeing as only one iteration exists, it's more likely Apple could revise its pricing model. However, you can safely expect it to retail around the $700 - $750 mark.
Many manufacturers and developers refuse to comment on rumour and speculation. It makes trying to confirm the existence of anything not officially announced rather tricky. Thankfully for you, we do comment on rumour and speculation, so here's what's being talked about regarding the iPhone 7's specifications.
New iPhone: display
Size
Rumours are circulating that Apple will be releasing three versions of the iPhone 7 or 6s. Come September, we could be seeing a successor to the iPhone 6 and its larger sibling, but also the reintroduction of a 4.7in "budget" handset akin to a successor of the iPhone 5c.
Honestly, this would be a sensible move on Apple's part, enabling it to cover all bases in terms of handset size.
However, it could also be seen as a retrograde step, or an admission that 5in phones are less popular than thought. Apple may save face by arguing it has always offered a smaller option as the 4in iPhone 5s is still on sale.
Force Touch screen
Just like in Apple's Apple Watch, and replicated in the trackpad of Apple's 2015 MacBook and MacBook Pro, the iPhone 7 is rumoured to come with a Force Touch screen.
Apple Insider kicked off the rumour in February, citing "people familiar with the development" when it claimed the two phones will be able to recognise the difference between a tap and a press and react accordingly. The Wall Street Journal corroborated this, saying its information came directly from Apple's suppliers.
With Force Touch appearing in both of Apple's latest products, it's far from unreasonable to believe this could be true. It seems the company's pushing this technology pretty hard and it would also set the new iPhone apart in an increasingly crowded smartphone market. It also separates it from the intimidating Samsung Galaxy S6.
Sapphire glass or Gorilla Glass?
Having failed to materialise in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the spectre of sapphire glass won't go away.
As Apple has, apparently, ironed out the supply chain issues blamed for the lack of sapphire screens on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, there's little reason for why the iPhone 7 won't benefit from it. It's even rumoured to have enlisted long-time partner Foxconn to help produce the material for its screens.
There is one major disadvantage to sapphire, it has a nasty habit of shattering. This is hardly ideal for a smartphone, with enough people dropping and shattering their screen as it is. Because of this, there's a lot of speculation around the iPhone 7 featuring a shatter-proof, scratch-proof Gorilla Glass replacement.
Cnet reported that James Clappin, an executive at Gorilla Glass manufacturer Corning, reportedly told investors on the 6 February that "sapphire was great for scratch performance but didn't fare well when dropped. So we created a product that offers the same superior damage resistance and drop performance of Gorilla Glass 4 with scratch resistance that approaches sapphire,"
Apple has a long-standing relationship with Corning, so it's very probable the company will continue to use Gorilla Glass on its new iPhones. As for a material that "approaches sapphire", topaz or quartz are likely candidates, as they sit at eight and seven respectively on Mohs scale of mineral hardness, whereas sapphire is at nine.
The next iPhones could, apparently, go head-to-head with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, with an edge-to-edge display. This would involve not only the removal of the bezel (see below for more details), but also a touch screen on one or both sides of the device.
This rumour also circulated in the run-up to the release of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, but was a no-show in the end. Will it be the same for the next iPhone
No more bezel
The new iPhones are also rumoured to have a 3D display. If true, this would have to be something pretty special to avoid the fate of the Amazon Fire Phone, which failed to impress with its own 3D technology.
iPhone 7: iOS
Generally the new iPhone comes as a flagship device for the latest iOS. While they're rarely ever released in conjunction with one another, with most new iOS builds rolling out in June, the new iPhone benefits from it the most.
With the iPhone 7 set to have NFC compatibility once more, perhaps we'll see a heavier reliance upon it outside of the Apple Pay environment. If the iPhone 7 did benefit from all of the features rumoured, a new iOS would be needed to facilitate it.
iPhone 7: camera
The iPhone has, for many, become their main camera, and Apple has focused more and more on improving its capabilities with each release. The same can be said of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, however we don't know how far Apple is willing to go.
The strongest rumour circulating at the moment would see the iPhone 7 come with a DSLR-quality camera built in. These rumours certainly have some validity as TechRadar reports that Apple has acquired LinX Computational Imaging. Clearly this means that we can expect a better camera in the iPhone 7.
However, if you believe analyst Jeff Pu from Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting in Taipei, the iPhone 7 won't see an upgrade from it's 8-megapixel snapper. Pu believes this because the CMOS sensors used in digital cameras are limited, thus hold back the potential for manufacturers to upgrade to 16 or 20-megapixel cameras.
To add more fuel to the fire, AppleInsider spotted a patent filling by Apple for a new mirror-driven optical image stabilisation technology.
While Apple introduced its Lightning connector in 2012, 2015's iPhone release is more than likely to feature a USB Type-C connector for charging.
Why USB Type-C? Well Apple's super-sleek new MacBook comes with only one connector, the USB Type-C, and there are rumours flying around that it helped work with Intel and others to create this new standard.
It's a little hard to believe Apple would want to help create a new standard that damages the simplicity and innovation of their own products, but it's certainly possible.
Another reason for why we can expect the iPhone 7 to adopt USB Type-C charging is due to pressure from the European Parliament. Having laid down the law on Apple, by 2017 the Californian tech company needs to comply with USB standard connections by 2017.
Of course, this is just within Europe, and I'm sure Apple still believes its Lightning technology is a more elegant solution for its high-end phones. So perhaps we'll see Apple release European and international versions of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
iPhone 7: processor
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are likely to have a new A9 processor and M9 motion coprocessor.
Each annual iteration of Apple's system-on-a-chip has been a significant improvement on the capabilities of its predecessor. The A7 offered double the graphics power of the A6, with twice the performance; the A8 on the other hand could only offer up a 50% improvement on graphical performance. It also only managed to eke out 25% more processor performance, and improve power efficiency by 50%.
As you may be able to tell, it's unclear what we can really expect from the A9 when it arrives in the iPhone 7.
Reports point to Samsung as the chip manufacturer of choice for Apple in 2015, securing most of its contracts. While this is relatively unsurprising given their background, it's worth remembering that the A8 processor in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus was manufactured by TSMC instead.
iPhone 7: features
For the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Apple will be dishing out new protection features for both iOS and the phone itself.
In regards to software, AppleInsider dug up a US patent application showing a system designed to identify usage patterns through machine learning. The idea is to trigger an alert, notification, or system action when the input the device receives suddenly changes.
Input into the device doesn't just mean how apps are used, but also accelerometer data, which can track gait, grammar and vocabulary, location data, and even magnetic fields.
Apple has also planned for the inevitable privacy concerns by stating it would be possible for users to deny access to certain data and anonymise users.
Additionally, KGI Securities analyst, who follows Apple closely, has said the new iPhone "will be equipped with an upgraded Touch ID module, with which Apple (US) intends to offer a better and safer Apple Pay user experience with reduced reading errors", according to MacRumours.
It wouldn't be a surprise if these features made their way into the iPhone 7 after the new US ruling requires manufacturers to put a "kill switch" on all of their phones sold inside the US.
In regards to the hardware side of things, the iPhone 7 could become rather clever.
Dropping a smartphone is, for many of us, a slow-motion disaster where we can only look on as our beloved item plunges towards the ground and, often, to its demise - or at least that of it's screen.
But Apple has come up with a couple of nifty, and slightly bizarre, tricks to resolve this problem.
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