iPhone 7 Plus release date, specs, price, features, rumors

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Apple will launch its third phablet later this year, when the iPhone 7 goes to market. This will be a significant release for the consumer electronics giant, as it has been frequently rumored in recent months that the iPhone 7 Plus will be accompanied by an iPhone 7 Pro. However, regardless of the existence or otherwise of this new device, this article will focus on all of the latest news and murmurings related to the standard iPhone 7 Plus.

iPhone 7 Plus release date, specs, price, features, rumors

iPhone 7 Plus release date and price

Firstly, There is no reason to believe that Apple will dispense from its usual release schedule for the iPhone 7 Plus. This would mean that the phablet will once more appear in September. Additionally, with Apple making gloomy predictions regarding the sales figures for the iPhone 7 generation, it is extremely likely that the price tag of the iPhone 7 Plus will be frozen from the previous iPhone 6S Plus.

Battery life

One of the big debates about this forthcoming phablet is whether or not Apple will ensure that the iPhone 7 Plus benefits from significantly improved battery life in comparison to previous releases in the series. Certainly there will be a call for this from consumers, as the iPhone range has been significantly criticized for its rather paltry battery lifecycle in recent releases.

However, comments from Jonathan Ive, the current Chief Design Officer of Apple, indicate that the corporation does not consider it worthwhile to tolerate sacrifices in other aspects of the iPhone 7 Plus in order to deliver a higher battery life. So with the iPhone 7 Plus not expected to be significantly redesigned, it could be that there will be no additional space for a particularly larger battery unit, and thus Apple will settle for rather minor gains driven by software in this department.

Display

At one time it was hoped that the iPhone 7 Plus would feature quad HD resolution, but reports on the phablet now indicate that Apple is likely to stick to the full HD resolution of previous generations. This will be something of a disappointment for some Apple fans, considering that the Samsung Galaxy range benefits from this superior screen resolution.

Storage

Apple is highly likely to phase out the 16GB iPhone Plus model when the iPhone 7 Plus is released, and may also make changes at the higher end of the storage versions as well. The 16GB version of the iPhone 7 Plus will be replaced with a bargain basement 32GB version, while the premium model in the phablet will be a 256GB handset, which doubles the previous maximum native storage available to iPhone consumers. This would certainly seem to be essential considering the premium on storage in contemporary smartphones.

Design

Recent leaks suggest that Apple will eliminate the headphones jack from the iPhone 7 Plus, as has indeed been widely rumored by analysts over the last few months. Apple will instead ask consumers to rely on wireless technology in order to listen to music, and schematics leaked from close to the Apple supply chain also suggest that the iPhone 7 Plus will be the same weight as last year’s release.

It is also notable that Apple is expected to include a Smart Connector in the iPhone 7 Plus, with this feature clearly recognizable in leaked case images. The renderings also suggest that the iPhone 7 Plus may go bezel-less in the next generation, with the schematics hinting at this feature. However, analysts generally believe that Apple will hold back any such edge-to-edge display for the iPhone 8 generation.

Camera

It is widely believed that the new iPhone Plus model will benefit from a dual-camera setup, and recent renderings have also supported this idea. This will mean that the iPhone 7 Plus is the most advanced photographic device that Apple has ever released, and a major step forward for the Californian corporation. In particular, the new dual-lens technology is expected to deliver better shooting in darker conditions; effectively a direct response to the dual-pixel technology which Samsung introduced earlier this year.

Rumors

One of the early rumors related to the new iPhone is that the phablet would embrace USB Type-C technology. This now seems unlikely, as such suggestions have diminished significantly, and there have been no leaks from close to the Apple supply chain recently suggesting that Apple will indeed include USB Type-C in the iPhone 7 generation.

Another possibility is that the iPhone 7 Plus could benefit from TouchID built into the screen, and that the handset could even eliminate the Home button completely. This has been a persistent rumor in recent years, with the suggestion intensifying since Apple introduced its 3D Touch technology last year.

However, recent renderings have included a Home button, albeit sometimes in a modified and more sophisticated form, suggesting that Apple will not release a 3D Touch-driven iPhone 7 Plus this year.

Waterproofing and dustproofing

Apple is also expected to ensure that the iPhone 7 Plus is both significantly waterproof and dustproof. This will have significant practical benefits for consumers, with the iPhone 7 Plus more compatible with rainy conditions. But Apple also hopes that athletes, both amateur and professional, will utilize the device underwater.

Specs

Aside from the display resolution debate, Apple will also upgrade many of the internal specifications included in the iPhone 7 Plus. And the emphasis will be on delivering a slicker user experience, which makes the iPhone more enjoyable and practical to utilize both for consumers and the business community.

The consumer electronics giant is expected to increase the RAM memory in the device by 1GB, while processor improvements are also inevitable. A new A10 processor will be included in the iPhone 7 Plus, and this could be clocked at over at 2GHz. It is also possible that Apple will include a true quad-core processor in the iPhone 7 Plus for the first time.

Apple could also improve the speaker system included in the iPhone 7 Plus, as it continues to place a greater emphasis on music playback in its devices in 2016. The iPad Pro release of 2016 included a quad speaker system, and while this may not be possible for a phablet Apple could include a new dual-speaker setup.

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