The continued spate of leaks related to iPhone 7 seem
to tell a story that's muddled yet troubling: Apple has
little in store for its forthcoming model that would
catalyze sales. We've been given indications from
multiple sources that the phone will be cosmetically
similar to the 2-year-old iPhone 6 and that few new
features are in store. That's a major departure, of
course, from the last half dozen years of upgrade
cycles where the odd year saw the rollout of a major
new form factor. But with the expected September
release of the new iPhone just three months away,
there's a lot that's still unknown — especially as
concerns what this new product plan might mean for
Apple. <!-more->
We don't know jack
Many accounts have definitively weighed in to proclaim
Apple will be removing the headphone jack from the
next iPhone, leaving users to some combination of
Bluetooth, 3.5mm adapters, or Lightning-port capable
options. The uncertainty has left me recommending
people don't spend money on expensive headphones
right now: We can't really know if those will work well
with a new iPhone. But a report in Engadget, based on
information from the Chinese repair shop Rock Fix,
claims the headphone jack might survive — at least on
one 4.7-inch model.
What to expect: The truly new models in the iPhone 7
family will lose the jack and be bundled with updated
Apple Earbuds that attach to the Lightning port. Expect
that Apple's long rumored wireless Ear Buds will be a $
99 option and heavily promoted as the "perfect add-on
for your iPhone 7″.
Better vision
As always, Apple will upgrade the iPhone's camera —
at least the rear-facing one. The latest wave of rumors
suggest a larger camera sensor. While the megapixel
count is unlikely to change much from the current 12-
megapixel one, a bigger sensor could allow for better
low-light performance and better overall image clarity.
Bigger individual pixels than the current 1.22µm used
by iPhone 6s would make this a reality. Less clear is
where the rumored dual-lens camera will show up.
Much talk has speculated on that camera being solely
present on the 5.5-inch Plus model. While that seems
likely, there is a divergence of opinion about whether
the more sophisticated camera will be on all Plus
models or only some.
Apple has created a split between the 4.7-inch "phone-
sized" model and the 5.5-inch phablet by giving only
the latter access to optical image stabilization. While
there's no reason to doubt a continued difference of
features — i.e. that the dual-lens model will solely be a
Plus, anything beyond that hasn't advanced past
speculation. It's worth noting that dual-lens cameras
aren't exclusive to Apple, and thus far have been used
to both expand image quality (by Huawei) and to allow
wider-angle shots (LG's G5). What hasn't happened so
far is some dramatic improves in zoom-like effects.
Huawei's method does allow for somewhat better
results from zooming in digitally — which historically
has been just a path to more distortion and lower
image quality.
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