iPhone 7 Concept Incorporates Beats Audio [PHOTOS]

The iPhone 7 lineup is expected to come next fall, and now that iPhone 6s sales are off and running, investors and the tech community alike are anxiously waiting to see what Apple is planning for its next iPhone line. Rumors abound, as do suggestion about how Apple should make next year’s phones look.

iPhone 7 redesigned

Now we have yet another iPhone 7 concept, this time from Eric Huisman and published by Concept Phones and picked up by Phone Review. The designer thoughtfully included designs for the iPhone 7 mini and the iPhone 7 Plus. There are indeed some pretty interesting featured added in this concept.

The iPhone 7 concept doesn’t look much different from the iPhone 6 or 6 s. It still features rounded edges, but those ugly, much-maligned antenna strips that became part of the phone with the iPhone 6 are gone. The designer said the antennas are now integrated into the phone’s interfaces. Also the phone is even thinner than its predecessors, which is a pretty safe bet as Apple is constantly looking for ways to make its devices thinner and thinner.

Flush camera, Beats Audio added

Also Huisman has made the camera flush with the back of the iPhone 7, which would be quite a feat. In the current iPhone models, the camera protrudes from the back ever so slightly, and if the iPhone 7 is thinner, it would mean that there would be even less room for the camera. The camera has also been bumped up to 15 megapixels.

The bottom of the phone features a Beats Audio speaker system, an interesting addition since Apple did acquire Beats Electronics. The Home button also gets 3D Touch haptic feedback capabilities and an option light around it.

Suggested specs for the iPhone 7

The concept also includes a USB Type-C port, which isn’t much of a stretch as Apple has begun to use Type-C connectors. The mini model features a 4-inch 1334 x 750 display, the iPhone 7 has a 4.7-inch Full HD display, and the iPhone 7 Plus concept sports a 5.5-inch Quad HD display.  The designer suggests that the Mini could be 5 millimeters thick and weight 102 grams, while the iPhone 7 could be 5.2 millimeters think with a weight of 131 grams and the iPhone 7 Plus could be 5.5 millimeters and weigh 140 grams.

The design also eliminates the 3.5-millimeter audio jack because of how thin the phone is and instead includes wireless connectivity. Instead of the earbuds, Huisman has come up with something he calls AirPods, which connect to the phone via Bluetooth.

Rumors beyond the concept

So just how accurate might this latest concept be? The idea about including 3D Touch in the Home button is interesting, but KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that the 3D Touch feature might not be improved much for next year. We’ve also heard that waterproofing is a possibility, although we’ve been hearing this for years. The suggestion about the swapping of the Lightning port for a Type-C charging port may be somewhat likely.

Other rumors for next year’s lineup include the inclusion of sapphire glass (yes, again) and a model with a curved screen.