With just 24 hours to go until Apple announces the next generation of iPhone at its event in San Francisco, I am going to take a look at what is known about the iPhone 7, its price, lack of a headphone jack, packaging and the persistent dual camera rumors.
iPhone 7
At tomorrow’s event, Apple is likely (if you believe the rumors) to announce two handsets: the standard iPhone 7 and the larger, more premium iPhone 7 Plus. Both of them are expected to be similar in design to their predecessors, meaning aesthetically very similar to the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. However, while the design of the handsets may not be much different to what came before, there will be some differences. Let’s have a look at the current rumors.
iPhone 7 price
Not only could the design of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus be similar to that of their predecessors, but so could their prices. At the beginning of August, leaked information posted on Chinese site Weibo suggested the next two iPhones could fall in line with 6s and 6s Plus pricing.
The information provided via Weibo suggested that the standard iPhone 7 model will be priced at around $649 / £539 / A$1079. It is believed Apple will no longer offer a 16GB variant and instead will start at 32GB. At the top end of the price range, the iPhone 7 is expected to be more expensive than the 128GB variant of the iPhone 6s, which at one time cost $849 / £699 / A$1379, but it is being said that for this price, Apple will offer 256GB of storage with the iPhone 7.
Handset packaging
Recently published images on Techtastic.nl show what could be the front and side views of the packaging for the iPhone 7. However, as with every image that has been leaked over the last few months, there is some doubt concerning the authenticity of the images.
Doubts about the the packaging shown above are raised because of the unusual font used for the iPhone name and the use of different kerning. Also there is no image of the back side of the box, which is typically where the specifications of the iPhone can be seen. Many believe this image to be that of an iPhone 7 clone rather than the real thing.
LED flashlights
Industry insider Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities recently leaked information about a very useful new feature for iPhone camera fans.
According to this information, the next iPhone will have four LED flash lights: two that are described as being in cool colors and two that are in warm colors. It is thought that while the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus had the ability to take good quality photographs in low light conditions, the addition of the two color flashes will enable the next iPhone model to snap superior images.
No more headphone jack
For months now, there have been rumors suggesting that Apple will remove the headphone Jack from its next iPhone. Instead, these stories state that the handset will come with either a pair of wireless “AirPod” headphones or Lightning EarPods which will work via Bluetooth.
Apple has neither confirmed nor denied this rumor, but it has shown in the past that it is not afraid of making controversial decisions. One such decision was with the iPhone 5 in 2012 when it introduced the Lightning connector.
So will this mean the end for headphones with standard 3.5mm headphone jack connectors? No, it is widely believed that Apple will introduce an adapter to connect wired headphones at a later date.
Dual-camera tecy
Originally rumored to appear on the iPhone 7, the rumors surrounding the dual-camera technology have now shifted towards it appearing only on the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus. It is being suggested that this new camera technology will offer what is being described as a “monumental leap” in smartphone camera tech.
In 2015, Apple acquired a company called LinX, which had been working on advanced camera technologies. It is said that this technology was capable of delivering superior camera performance in many different situations, such as low light, close-ups, mist, flares, and reflections. This technology also provided superior results in color accuracy, shutter lag, uniformity, noise levels and much more.
So with this knowledge, many tech savvy bloggers believe that Apple could be about to introduce an iPhone 7 that will offer almost DSLR photo quality.
In a November episode of his podcast called The Talk Show, well-connected Apple blogger John Gruber mentioned that he had heard mention of Apple’s next iPhone offering DSLR-quality photography.
“I don’t even know what sense this makes,” Gruber said, “But I’ve heard that it’s some kind of weird two-lens system where the back camera uses two lenses and it somehow takes it up into DSLR-quality imagery.”
Final thoughts
So with less than 24 hours to go until the likely successors to the 6s and 6s Plus are announced, the tech world is in an awkward state of apprehension. Apple will not be alone in holding an event tomorrow; instead, it will be joined by Sony and its highly-anticipated announcement of the PlayStation Neo.
Which of the two events are you looking forward to the most?
