iPhone 7 could have THREE different models, including the "iPhone Pro"
This is actually a pretty disappointing development. KGI Securities superstar analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously reported that there are no less than three models of the iPhone 7 in development. The first is the standard 4.7-inch iPhone 7. The next is the regular 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus. But now it appears that there will also be a third model called the iPhone Pro.
This third model takes its name from the iPad Pro line and will likely feature some higher specs--only one of which is known right now. That one is the dual lens camera. The iPhone 7 has long been rumored to have a dual lens camera, which would allow for optical zoom in a compact lens and much, much sharper images. At first it was thought the iPhone 7 would have a dual lens camera across the line. Then it was believed that just the iPhone 7 Plus would have the dual lens camera. Now it’s believed that that’s not even true.
According to rumors from Chinese website MyDrivers Apple plans to release a THIRD iPhone 7 called the iPhone 7 Pro and ONLY this iPhone 7 will have the dual lens system. The rest of us get fucked.
Personally, I think having three iPhone 7 models would alienate buyers as those that want a 4.7-inch phone but a dual lens camera system would be left in the cold. If MyDrivers’ rumor is true, lets hope its only partial--and let’s hope apple will offer both a 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone Pro.
iPhone 7 could feature a THINNER lightning port
The iPhone 7 is rumored to be Apple’s thinnest yet--approaching the thinness of the iPod Touch. And if a rumor from Japanese site Mac Otakara is to be believed, the iPhone 7 isn’t the only thing being shrunk; the lightning cable port will be getting thinner as well. This makes sense, as if you make a phone thinner, some of its ports will need to get thinner too. However, it’s important to note that Apple isn’t introducing a new version of the Lightning cable. Only the port’s housing is shrinking on the iPhone 7. Current Lightning cables and accessories will continue to work just fine.
iPhone 7 New Tech Will Make Batteries BIGGER and Wi-Fi FASTER
Some advanced engineering news has leaked out about the iPhone 7. Apple is reportedly working on electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding that will individually shield most of the phone's major chips.
I know, what the heck does that mean? Will your iPhone now be able to withstand an EMP attack from a rouge foreign state?
No. No it won't.
EMI shielding is a layer of thin metal protective shielding put over various computer components to protect them from becoming affected by or affecting other components nearby. The negative effects various components put out usually come in the form of wireless signal (think NFC or Wi-Fi) interference. The more complex components get, the greater a chance are for them to interfere with other components in the same device.
That’s where EMI shielding comes it. It can contain any negative effect a component may have. Apple has actually used EMI shielding in the iPhone for a while now with various portions of the iPhone circuit board and some individual chips featuring the shielding. But now, according to ETNews, the iPhone 7 will feature the technology on a wider array of its chips.
“Apple first applied EMI Shield technology to major chip package ‘S1’ of Apple Watch that was released last year. To apply such technology onto major chips of iPhone 7, it has been doing development project with packaging businesses since last year. It is heard that Apple personally chose equipment partners during this process and had induced packaging businesses to give them contracts,” ETNews reported. “StatsChipPac and Amkor have made many contracts with South Korean sputter and handler businesses for EMI Shield since end of last year. Contracts are worth more than tens of millions of dollars, and additional contracts will take place during first half of this year also.”
“As clock signals of digital chips have increased and as diverse functions such as 3D-touch and others have recently added, reduction of electromagnetic waves have emerged as major topic of this industry.” a representative of chip industry told ETNews. “As other Smartphone businesses might be looking to apply EMI Shield technology to major chips just as Apple did, packaging and other related equipment industries will benefit a lot from this.”
So what does this mean for you, the end user? Well, not too much. Chances are the iPhone 7 will now be less prone to interference with whatever advanced chips it contains, but given Apple has handled this interference problem pretty well in the past without users noticing means you shouldn’t notice anything different in regards to this tech in the iPhone 7.
iPhone 7 rumored to have slimmer bezel and WET FINGER SUPPORT
Hands down, this is the most exciting news about the iPhone 7 we’ve heard yet. For months the iPhone 7 has been rumored to be waterproof, so if you drop in in the toilet you don’t need to spend another £600. But the really exciting news is now that the iPhone 7 won’t only be waterproof, but you’ll be able to interact with its touchscreen even when your fingers are wet.
Currently if you touch your iPhone’s screen with wet fingers it either won’t register your touch or the touch sensors will misinterpret the action, which will result in a wrong button being activated or odd scrolling on the screen. This is because water is capacitive and confuses the electric signal that the iPhone’s touchscreen needs to register from your finger when you touch it. If you want to see this in action, just think of trying to use your iPhone the last time you were outside and it started to drizzle.
But now thanks to a new screen from Japan Display called "Pixel Eyes” wet fingers won’t interfere with the iPhone’s touchscreen anymore. The company, who Apple already uses for some of its displays, has released a second generation "Pixel Eyes” display that can be operated with wet fingers, according to MacRumors.
“iPhones, iPads, and the Apple Watch, for example, don't respond well to touch with wet fingers or when placed in water, so technology like this could be essential if Apple wants to have a functional display in a device advertised as ‘waterproof’,” the site says.
Japan Display has already begun volume production of the displays, so they are indeed ready well ahead of time that iPhone 7 manufacturing would need them to be. The inclusion of the wet finger display technology isn’t a sure thing, but with the other waterproof rumors of the iPhone 7 it makes a lot of sense.
iPhone 7 Headphone Jack SAGA Continues: Bose-Style Headphones Rumoured
A few months back reports began circulating about Apple ditching the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack aboard its upcoming iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus handsets.
According to said reports, Apple wants to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack entirely and use the iPhone 7’s existing Lighting Port for connecting headphones instead. Whether the iPhone 5se will get the same treatment remains to be seen.
News of the switcharoo, however, caused something of an uproar. How DARE Apple change something as fundamental as the iPhone 7’s headphone jack.
How bloody DARE they, indeed!
The apparent reason behind the switcharoo is that Apple wants to make the iPhone 7 SUPER slim and in order to do this it had to get rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack.
“At the moment,” says The Telegraph, “iPhones feature just one speaker panel on the right hand side. Wider audio has been an interest of Apple in recent devices, such as on the iPad Pro — which uses speakers on all of its sides to produce a bigger, stereo sound.”
Sound familiar? It should. A lot of Android phones have been doing this for a long time, most notably HTC ones with their BoomSound speakers. The inclusion of a new speaker system aboard the iPhone, while useful, is not something we’d have predicted as a “high priority” for Apple.
On a more positive note, though, the iPhone 7 will likely have dual-stereo speakers now, meaning chavs on buses can REALLY ruin your commute home later on this year.
The move would also mean headphone manufacturers would have to produce Apple-specific headphones that feature lightening port connectors and not the standard 3.5mm jack. From Apple’s perspective this might be advantageous but that is literally the only positive — for almost everybody else it will SUCK. Lightening port headphones will likely cost more, your old headphones will become redundant and it’ll take A LONG time for headphone makers to adopt the new standard, meaning choice will be limited to begin with should Apple go this route.
Or, the other alternative: “Apple will likely bundle new iPhones with EarPods that pack Lightning connectors or include 3.5mm-to-Lightning adapters in the iPhone’s box,” notes BGR. “That latter option seems like the more reasonable option, meaning the new headphones will likely work with older smartphones and other devices that have 3.5mm headphone jacks. Of course, this also means that old headphones will need the adapter to work with the iPhone 7, and Apple will likely have one for sale, generating a new, even if tiny, profit stream for the company.”
Additional reports, citing Barclays analysts, claimed the iPhone 7’s new Lighting Port headphone setup would mean better sound quality — something Apple would likely market as HD Music with a solid Apple Music tie in for good measure — as well as, potentially, noise cancellation inside the EarPods that come with the iPhone 7.
“The move will prepare Apple for the possibility of including Cirrus Logic's (an Apple audio supplier) more advanced noise-cancellation smart codec in 2017,” says 9to5Mac, “which requires a digital codec to be installed in the first place.”
Sounds great, doesn't it? NOISE CANCELLATION. But unfortunately this new feature might not be available inside the iPhone 7. Nope. According to some market watchers, Apple COULD do its old trick and keep this one back for 2017’s iPhone 7s .
“We still believe there is potential for AAPL to add ANC in the iPhone 7s but believe AAPL is including just the digital headphone in the iPhone 7 this year. Recent speculation surrounding the elimination of the headphone jack in the IP7 is consistent with this move as AAPL will need to provide a digital headset inbox but likely was not willing to spend the extra cost for the ANC functionality.”
To be honest, I’d be happy if they’d just make the damn thing more comfortable. The current generation EarPods really make my ears ache after hardly any time at all.
Apple iPhone 7 Streamlined Design Will Ditch Rear Antenna Bands And Camera Hump
Details emerging on February 3 suggest Apple may be attempting to streamline some exterior design features of the iPhone 7 for a much sleeker appearance. It's alleged that the phone will lose the long-standing antenna bands which wrap around the top and bottom of the back panel, and Apple may also have found a way to reduce the protrusion of the camera module to make it completely flat and flush with the bodywork - apparently a thinner camera module has allowed this.
“The rear-camera will sit within the aluminium casing, and antenna bands will sit only on the upper and lower edges, instead of extending across the width of the handset,” said the report. On the subject of the antenna bands, the report says the case will be so thin that radio waves will be able to pass freely through it, negating the need for bands on the exterior of the case.
The info comes via a source speaking to MacRumors, one who is claimed to have proved reliable in the past. Apart from this it's believed the design will stay largely the same, but while these changes sound like relatively minor cosmetic tweaks, bear in mind that it'll have taken quite a bit of clever engineering to make them happen - it's actually a pretty big change.
Note that the report states the antenna bands on the rear panel are being removed - it adds that the phone will not be devoid of antenna bands and they will still be present on the sides.
Apple iPhone 7 Plus To Feature Optical Zoom & Dual-Camera
According to some info released by well-regarded analyst Ming-Chi Kuo the iPhone 7 Plus may come equipped with a dual-camera configuration, complete with an optical zoom capability. Normally you'd be right to take this kind of thing with a pinch of salt, but as we've mentioned before, Ming-Chi Kuo has a near impeccable track record when it comes to making pin-point accurate predictions of Apple's plans, particularly when it comes to the iPhone series. In other words, when he speaks, we pay close attention!
Kuo sent a research memo out to his KGI Securities clients on January 27 describing how the larger phablet iPhone 7 variant, the iPhone 7 Plus, would feature an enhanced camera with dual-lens optics. The tech is said to come from Israeli company LinX, which Apple purchased inside 2015. The line goes that this tech can use multiple small lenses and apertures to capture better quality photos by working in tandem with clever software algorithms. Previously LinX has boasted of image quality approaching DSLR levels.
Kuo's note says that Apple will use two Sony sensors rated at 12MP, although they will feature different aperture sizes. He also says that one of these will have optical image stabilisation while the other will have a 2-3x optical zoom, which would be a first in smartphone imaging, although Apple does have patents for this kind of thing.
iPhone 6c To Be Called iPhone 5se
As we approach the suspected launch of a new product the rumours, leaks and reports about said product tend to pick up pace, highlighting new features, additional information and, every now and then, a complete, balls-out break down of everything about the product including pictures, pricing, specs and hardware.
This rarely happens with Apple stuff, however, because the company is extremely focus on security and secrecy around its unannounced products. The iPhone 6 -- or iPhone 5 se, as it is now reportedly called -- is a prime example of this. We kind of know it is coming and we sort of know what it will be like BUT at the same time everything we think we know could be wrong.
Nevertheless, a new 4in handset from Apple is almost certain to happen. The leaks keep on coming and the most recent concerns the actual name of the handset, which, if you’ve been paying attention, will know has been on of the most hotly contested aspects of the handset. At first we thought it’d be called the iPhone 7c. Then the iPhone 6c. Now, however, reports suggest the handset will ACTUALLY be called iPhone 5se.
“The new device is internally codenamed ‘N69,’” reports 9to5Mac, “but the launch name will likely be the “ iPhone 5 se.” The “se” suffix has been described in two ways by Apple employees: as a “special edition” variation of the vintage 4-inch iPhone screen size and as an “enhanced” version of the iPhone 5s. Indeed, the upcoming “5se” features a design similar to 2013’s flagship but upgraded internals, software, and hardware features that blend the old design with modern technologies from the past two iPhone upgrades.”
