iPhone 7 Rumor Round: Release Date, Features, Specs

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Rumors about Apple’s upcoming iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are in full swing. The next-gen iPhones are expected to bring some major design changes along with performance improvements. Though Apple tries hard to maintain secrecy around its future devices, supply chain leaks, well-connected analysts and experts have revealed many of the key details of its 2016 iPhones. Let’s take a look at features and specs that we are most likely to see in the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus when they arrive later this year.

iPhone 7 Rumor Round: Release Date, Features, Specs

Dual-camera system in iPhone 7

Highly-respected KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has learned from supply chain sources that the next-gen iPhones would get rid of the protruding camera lens. Kuo says the tech giant will include a dual-camera system to the iPhone 7. It will allow the device to capture DSLR quality images while shrinking the size.

Using multiple lenses would also let the future iPhones understand depth. It means the device can take photos by focusing on two parts of an image at once, or produce a 3D image. LinX Imaging, an Israeli startup that Apple acquired last year, already has similar technologies.

Waterproof and dustproof

An iFixit teardown revealed last year that the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus had some waterproofing capabilities, even though Apple didn’t market them as waterproof devices. Apple is widely expected to improve upon it and make the iPhone 7 fully waterproof and dustproof. The tech giant owns several patents including a “self-healing elastomer” that covers key openings such as the USB port to prevent water and dust from getting inside the phone.

Wet finger support

A big problem with current iPhones is that if you touch the screen with a wet finger, it does not interact or the sensors misinterpret the action. Being capacitive, water confuses the electric signal that the screen needs to register from your finger. Now Apple supplier Japan Display has introduced a screen called Pixel Eyes that would allow you to interact with your iPhone even if your fingers are wet.

MacRumors says if Apple wants to advertise the iPhone 7 as waterproof, it must incorporate the wet finger support. Japan Display has already started mass producing the Pixel Eyes displays.

Goodbye headphone jack

Japanese publication MacOtakara had learned from its sources that Apple was going to ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack in the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Later, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo issued a research note to investors, confirming the report that Apple would remove the headphone jack to make the new iPhones slimmer.

Removing the headphone jack would allow Apple to reduce the thickness of the iPhone 7 to 6-6.5mm. Users will have to turn to Bluetooth headphones or Lightning-compatible ones.

Long-distance wireless charging

Apple has reportedly partnered with Energous to bring wireless charging to its future iPhones. Energous’ WattUp technology would allow users to charge their devices from a distance of up to 15 feet. It has two parts:  a tiny WattUp receiver chip that can be placed inside your device, and a transmitter that you can place anywhere in the room. Users can buy multiple transmitters, one for office, one for bedroom, and so on.

No antenna band

The iPhone 7 is going to get rid of the ugly antenna bands that wrap around the top and bottom of the rear panel of the device. Sources told MacRumors that the antenna bands will sit only on the upper and lower edges of the iPhone 7, rather than extending across the width of the device.

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