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Everything we know about the iPhone 7 so far
We won’t know exactly what Apple has in store for it’s next iPhone until September.
Even though that’s still about five months away, various leaks and notes from analysts have painted a picture of what we might be able to expect from the successor to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Based on what we’ve heard, it sounds like the changes will focus more on enhancing features like the camera rather than redesigning what the phone looks like.
It will probably be called the iPhone 7.
The next iPhone may be so significantly different than the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus that Apple could call it the iPhone 7, not the iPhone 6s. At least that’s what Ming Chi-Kuo of KGI Securities believes, which he wrote in a note earlier this month.
It may come in two sizes, just like the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Kuo also believes that Apple will stick to the sizes it introduced in September, and will offer the next iPhone in both 4.7 and 5.5-inch variants too.
And there’s a chance we’ll see a new 4-inch iPhone, too.
Taiwanese publication Digitimes reports that Apple is planning to release three iPhones: a 4.7-inch phone, a 5.5-inch model, and a new 4-inch iPhone. It’s unclear how this 4-inch phone would fit into Apple’s current iPhone lineup, and how it would be branded. Digitimes also has a mixed track record, so this report may be bogus.
There could be a pink iPhone, too.
Apple is reportedly testing a new pink color option for iPhones, according to The Wall Street Journal. There’s no indication that this will ever come to the market, but if Apple is actually experimenting with a new color it’s possible we’ll see it on the next iPhone.
The camera may be a lot better.
One of the more plausible rumors seems to be that the next iPhone’s camera will get a big improvement. Blogger John Gruber said he heard that the next iPhone will have the “biggest camera jump ever.” Apple also recently acquired Israel-based camera company LinX for an estimated $20 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. LinX’s technology could help the iPhone take clearer photos in low-light conditions, reduce noise, and add other improvements, according to an analyst note from Macquarie Research.
You may be able to add 3-D effects to photos.
In fact, LinX’s technology may even allow you to add 3-D effects to photos taken with the iPhone, according to the note from Macquarie. Specifically, the note says it could enable “3-D object modeling” and that the next iPhone could come with a “duo camera.” This essentially means the phone would come with more than one camera sensor so that it could capture depth-of-field images. This sounds a lot like the camera on the HTC One M8.
We may see the same Force Touch technology Apple put into the Apple Watch.
The next iPhone will come with Apple’s Force Touch technology that debuted in the new MacBook and Apple Watch, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The Force Touch technology in the so-called iPhone 7 will be different from what is in Apple’s other recent products, according to Kuo. He doesn’t think it will detect pressure like the sensor in the new MacBook’s trackpad, but rather it will sense “contact area on which the finger touches the screen to decide how big the pressure is.”
The next iPhone will probably have a better processor.
Apple usually upgrades the processor in its iPhones, so there’s a big chance we’ll see some performance improvements in the next iPhone, too. We have yet to hear any rumors or insight on exactly what types of enhancements to expect, but Bloomberg reported that Apple has chosen Samsung over Taiwan Semiconductor to produce its new iPhone chips.
It’ll come with the latest version of Apple’s software, which will be called iOS 9.
Apple’s new iPhones always ship with the latest software, so the iPhone 7 (or whatever it’s called) will come with iOS 9 pre-installed. We expect to learn more about iOS 9 in June at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference.
This means Apple’s rumored music service will probably come pre-loaded on the next iPhone, too.
One of the biggest rumors surrounding iOS 9 is that it will come with Apple’s much-anticipated music service powered by Beats Music. The streaming music service is said to cost $7.99 per month and will let you play any song on demand, like Spotify. Apple is reportedly trying to court artists like Taylor Swift and Florence and the Machine to release exclusive tracks on its platform.
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