Apple's iPhone 7 Takes Shape: Release Date, Specs & Features Rumours

Rumours Richard Goodwin 13:26, 3 Jun 2016

All the leaks, rumours and details for the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and/or iPhone 7 Pro

WWDC will take place on June 13 in San Francisco. That means we now only have a short time to wait to see what Apple has in store for iPhone and iPad with iOS 10. Last year saw the release of Apple Music; this year we’re expecting to see a lot of new iPhone/iPad features added into the mix. Especially with the expected arrival of the iPhone 7 Plus/Pro which is will apparently share some similarities to Apple’s iPad Pro line of devices.

The BIG keynote by Mr. Tim Cook takes place on the first day — June 13 — and it is here that Apple will detail its plans for the rest of the year, discus its ups and downs, and introduce new software for iPhone/iPad and Mac computers. And with the launch of the iPhone 7 just around the corner, what’s revealed about iOS 10 will likely give us a better idea about what features will be present aboard the iPhone 7.
Another set of early June rumours has emerged claiming that both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available with storage options as high as 256GB - the news follows other recent rumours saying the 16GB lower tier will be ditched for a 32GB base option. The info comes via industry research and analysis firm TrendForce, which claims that Apple has pretty much finalised the spec line-up across the range. Previously we had heard that the iPhone 7 Plus, aka the iPhone 7 Pro, would have a top-tier 265GB storage option, but between the possible Pro branding (Apple's iPad Pro tablets both have 256GB options) and the presence of a high-spec dual-camera sensor (with the better quality photos requiring more storage space) it seemed like a logical move. Now, however, TrendForce claims that even the iPhone 7, with its single camera sensor, will also have a 256GB variant for those who need stacks of space. The move also makes sense as content and applications become more sophisticated and take up larger amounts of space on a phone's internal storage, particularly as Apple does not offer microSD storage card capabilities. The report also claims the iPhone 7 Plus will feature 3GB of RAM while the iPhone 7 will have 2GB.
According to a tipster, Kevin Wang, Director of Market Research at IHS Technology, for the iPhone 7 generation coming later this year Apple will finally ditch the 16GB lower tier models and the base edtions of each device will be coming with 32GB of onboard storage and 2GB of RAM. Wang states this info comes from his "supply chain research," although this isn't someone with Ming-chi Kuo's track record so we are regarding it with a healthy degree of caution. Still, dropping the 16GB option is something that many consumers, reviewers and analysts have suggested would be a good idea for a while; as multimedia and apps go up in quality (with 4K video and images being far more common) 16GB is starting to look a bit anemic and can quickly be filled without much effort. Storage creep is something computing devices have had for a very long time, and in a way it is surprising that phones so far have not had to update as quickly. There is still some speculation that Apple's top-level option for the iPhone 7 Plus/Pro will be as much as 256GB, putting it on par with the iPad Pro tablets.
As of June 1, a picture has leaked showing what's alleged to be the iPhone 7's rear panel in a rose gold colour. The leak out of China shows the single camera port with another port for the LED flash, as well as the new antennae design which moves the bands to the upper and lower edges. This design fits with a bunch of earlier rumours and leaks we've seen, so we think it's probably legit. The design is expected to be more or less the same for the larger iPhone 7 Plus model except of course it will be larger and will have a dual-sensor camera port if earlier schematics and rumours prove accurate (and by now we're thinking they probaby are). Unfortunately this leak doesn't show anything related to the Lightning and headphone ports - there have now been so many conflicting rumours and leaks saying the 3.5mm headphone jack will or will not be ditched we honestly don't know what to think at this point. Hopefully more images will continue to leak and prove once and for all the presence or absence of a 3.5mm port.

A set of alleged iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus schematics has leaked as of May 27, picked up by a source who delivered them to Chinese publication MyDrivers. Despite several recent reports that cases designed for the iPhone 7 series fit the iPhone 6s series perfectly, the schematics show that the new models will be 1mm thicker than their predecessors (although this might not rule out the cases still fitting the older models), but will share the same height and width. There is some speculation that the expanded waistline could signal a bigger battery cell. The diagrams also show ports for a Smart Connector on the iPhone 7 Plus (meaning it may be a "Pro" branded model) , and once again reiterate the dual-camera sensor aboard the iPhone 7 Plus model.