iPhone 7: Summing up the rumors

iphone 7 summing up the rumors 2016 images

iPhone 7: Summing up the rumors 2016 images

Why All the Leaks for the iPhone 7? Free marketing of course. Everyone gets crazy at what the next iPhone will be like. That’s millions saved by Apple from advertising. The iPhone 6S, despite being a cool device didn’t fare well on the market as well as the iPhone 6 and 6+. For the first time, a new iPhone iteration failed to get the market excited which resulted in rumors of doom and gloom for Apple. So now, we have a lot of leaks and rumors about the new iPhone. We also have iOS 10. Will the iPhone 7 be more than a soft iteration? It shouldn’t if iPhone wants to stay on the market. Apple needs to ‘Think Different’ again since Tim can’t exactly sell bridges as well as Steve. What’s more, China just ordered Apple to cease selling the iPhone 6 because of, shocking as it sounds—patent infringement. But lucky for Apple, it can still sell the phones pending an appeal which will take about a year. Till then, whatever Apple infringed could be taken out, the iPhone 6 line can be taken out from the SKUs.

So what’s new with the iPhone 7? The latest is that the new iPhone or a variant of it will retain the headphone jack which one of the first rumors say they’ll be taking out in favor of either wireless headphones of that the headphones will be making use of the lightning port. It should be a relief for music lovers who’ll be able to reuse old headphones as spares or use better headphones from other manufacturers. Though it would be interesting if Apple bundled Bluetooth headphones with their phones which would be a first. Good news. Apple does have what they would probably call “Airpods” which would be wireless. Joggers and runners rejoice. But again, the headphone jack apparently stays as a legacy feature.

“We are going to give you things that you can’t live without, that you just don’t know you need today.”

— Tim Cook, Apple CEO, Interview with CNBC Jim Cramer

Ever the great salesman. Stuff we really need today which can be hard to live without, transporter technology, medical tricorders, replicators and ultra-portable head massagers. Well, a non-mechanical home button on our iPhones and iPads is a start. One common point of failure for most iPhones is the Home button. It’s the most used button aside from the power/sleep button. The home button won’t be removed despite the advantage of additional real estate plus the fingerprint sensor goes to waste and losing the Home button would be a radical departure from how users normally use the iPhone. Instead of a mechanical home button, it will become a tap/pressure-sensitive surface just like the Back and Menu buttons of Samsung phones. Pet peeves of mine especially if they’re not set to visible all the time.

iphone 7 specs 2016 tech images

Hopefully, it’s not the casing that China’s critical about because there won’t be much change in that department. The only element that disappears from the current form factor would be the antenna bands. Another rumor as per site Mobipicker is that the iPhone 7 will have three versions. The iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and an iPhone 7 Pro or Premium. Speaking of versions, one important thing everyone’s waiting for is the removal of the 16GB model. It’s time for Apple to man-up since much cheaper phones start with 32GB. Apple’s main reason for keeping 16GB models is for corporate contracts but as an employee using a 16GB iPhone 6S, 16GB isn’t enough to keep apps, email, music and thousands of work-related photos. It’s very unpleasant seeing that red storage indicator.

Screen-wise, it’s been a long-standing rumor since iPhone 5 that the newest model will sport sapphire instead of Gorilla Glass. If true, the screen will have higher scratch and shatter resistance than current models and will finally do away with the necessity of users having to use screen protectors or tempered glass. Specs-wise, Apple will bump up the current processor from A9 to A10 for better performance and whatever iOS 10 throws at it. To complement the processor upgrade, Apple should also bump up the RAM to 4GB and hopefully, this time, Apple levels up entry-level models to 32GB in order for the iPhone 7 to be more than just a soft iteration. Needless to say, having iOS 10 pre-installed with its radical home screen changes should differentiate the iPhone 7 a little from the iPhone 6.

Before we forget, leaked images allege that the rear camera will sport dual lenses but only on the iPhone 7 Plus model, which is a bummer for small-screen fans. Whatever the camera, the iPhone 7 is sure to boast better resolution and low-light performance.

That’s it so far. These leaks may boost marketing and anticipation, but it would be nice if there was that cool ‘one more thing’ we really don’t know about or expect. Cheers.