iPhone 7 release date, news and rumors - Iphone7images.Blogspot.com

Apple will almost certainly release the iPhone 6S next, though it’s possible that it will change its naming scheme and call it the iPhone 7. But assuming the naming conventions stay the same we likely won’t see the iPhone 7 for a while, probably until sometime in 2016.

Yet it should be worth the wait, as while the iPhone 6S will probably just be a refined version of the iPhone 6, the iPhone 7 is where Apple is likely to change things up again, with a new design and radical new features to inspire those who’ve had stuck with the iPhone 6 to make an upgrade.

Release date and price

With the iPhone 6S likely to be Apple’s next phone the iPhone 7 probably won’t see the light of day until late in 2016, probably around September.

Pricing is unknown but expect it to be a minimum of £539 as that’s what the iPhone 6 starts at and with the 16GB size possibly being abolished and various tech improvements we wouldn’t be surprised if it creeps closer to £600.

Display

With the iPhone 6 Apple upped its screen sizes to 4.7 and 5.5 inches and we expect the iPhone 6S will keep those sizes, while possibly adding a third 4-inch option to replace the iPhone 5S.

With the iPhone 7 enough time will have passed for Apple to feasibly change the sizes again, but we doubt that will happen, with the three aforementioned sizes comfortably providing for fans of big, medium and small phones.

If anything Apple may cut either the 4.0-inch or 5.5-inch model out of the equation and focus on the most popular 4.7-inch middle ground, but we don’t particularly expect that to happen either.

However while the screen size may stay the same other aspects may differ. For one thing we may see a resolution boost with the iPhone 7. There’s talk that the iPhone 6S Plus may have a 2K display, in which case the iPhone 7 Plus surely will too and by then Apple may well be ready to add a sharper screen to the standard size iPhone too.

The screen material may change too. Talk of sapphire displays won’t die and we wouldn’t be surprised if Apple uses the technology sooner or later, so the iPhone 7 could be the perfect opportunity to try out the super strong material.

It’s also possible that it will have a curved design. That’s a rumour that’s been put forward for the iPhone 6S and we think it’s unlikely there as the technology is still in its infancy, but give it another year and it could make it on to the iPhone 7, either in the form of a curved display like the LG G Flex 2 or a curved edge like the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, or perhaps in a new and different form.

The specific rumours at the moment refer to a ‘sidewall’ display which Apple has filed a patent for. The design is along the lines of the Galaxy Note Edge or Galaxy S6 Edge and could allow the side-screen to house virtual buttons. There’s also talk of a naked eye 3D screen which wouldn’t require 3D glasses to view.

Design

Assuming the iPhone 7 comes after the iPhone 6S (rather than instead of it or at the same time), there’s a good chance that Apple will change the design, though with the possible exception of adding a curved screen there aren’t many rumours about what those changes might entail.

However there are rumours that Liquidmetal could be used. It’s stronger than aluminium, so in turn it could make the phone stronger and less of it would need to be used, allowing for a smaller, slimmer device with minimal bezels, while keeping the same screen size.

Or alternatively Apple could take advantage of the material to make the screen slightly larger without increasing the overall footprint of the phone.

There’s also been rumours that the strong Series 7000 aluminium alloy found in the Apple Watch Sport could be used in the iPhone 6S, so whether or not it is it’s another possible iPhone 7 material with many of the same advantages as Liquidmetal.

Power

The processor the iPhone 7 uses will largely depend on what the iPhone 6S uses. The iPhone 6S may use the triple-core 1.5GHz A8X processor from the iPad Air 2, in which case Apple will almost certainly bring the A9 processor (which is said to be 15% smaller, 20% more powerful and 35% more efficient than the A8) to the iPhone 7.

But on the other hand the iPhone 6S may get the A9. In which case there’s a good chance that the iPhone 7 will get an even more powerful A9X or A10 processor. That’s looking like the more likely scenario, but as yet nothing is known about whatever processor will follow the A9.

There are rumours that the iPhone 6S will have 2GB of RAM and we’d expect the iPhone 7 to have the same, regardless of when it launches. Apple has stuck with 1GB of RAM for years and its high time it made the move to 2GB, not to mention the fact that the iPad Air 2 has 2GB of RAM, so Apple is likely to bring the upgrade to its phones, but given how long it stuck with 1GB we imagine iPhones with 2GB of RAM will be the norm for at least a few years.

Camera

There are a lot of exciting iPhone 6S camera rumours doing the rounds and many of them are likely to apply to the iPhone 7 as well. Supposedly it could have a DSLR quality snapper with a dual-lens system.

This rumour has had doubts cast on it when referring to the iPhone 6S, as it would likely require a redesign to implement, but with Apple likely to change the design of the iPhone 7 anyway there’s a fair chance we could see it there.

More specifically it could have a 21 megapixel Sony sensor, as well as optical zoom, which is still a rarity on phones, and the ability to let more light in than the iPhone 6 can, in turn bringing more detail to dark images.

Though other rumours point to a more modest upgrade to a 12 megapixel camera for the iPhone 6S and that could hold true for the iPhone 7 too.

A more out-there idea is that Apple could equip the iPhone 7 with swappable lenses, allowing you to change the lens according to your needs. There is an Apple patent to back that idea up, but patents often don’t turn into commercial products.

Features

Apple is unlikely to remove existing features like Touch ID and Apple Pay so expect them to make a return, possibly with improvements. iOS will of course be baked in, but not iOS 8. Depending on when it launches we’ll be looking at either iOS 9 or more likely iOS 10, complete with whatever changes and improvements Apple brings to that version of the OS.

Apple is also rumoured to be dropping the 16GB option in its flagships and reinstating the 32GB one. That would be a welcome move as 16GB of storage when there’s no microSD card slot is just dysfunctionally small in this day and age.

Another rumoured feature is a 3D pressure sensor, allowing for the Force Touch technology which the Apple Watch has. This would allow the iPhone 7 to tell how hard you’re pressing the screen and for it to do different things depending on the amount of pressure.

Another interesting idea, this time based on an Apple patent, is that the fingerprint sensor could be baked right in to the home screen, allowing Apple to remove the home button altogether and thereby create a smaller device or add a larger screen.

We could also see the iPhone 7 support wireless charging. This is an industry which is starting to take off and Apple could give it just the push it needs to hit the mainstream, while talk of a reversible USB lightning cable has been doing the rounds since before the iPhone 6 launched.

Perhaps the most exciting rumoured feature though is the inclusion of the Apple SIM. This shipped with the iPad Air 2 and allows users to swap between networks without changing SIM card, all from an interface on the device and theoretically without being locked into a long term contract.

This has numerous advantages, from chopping and changing networks in the UK based on the best offers and coverage at any given time, to switching to a local network when abroad to avoid roaming charges.

However we’re sceptical that we’ll see it in the iPhone 7. Aside from the technical challenges of making it work with voice as well as data most networks are likely to refuse to support it as it takes away much of their power.