Apple iPhone 7 – Design
KGI Securities superstar analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has an
excellent track record with predicting iPhone specs, says the iPhone 7 will be
Apple’s thinnest yet–approaching the thinness of the iPod touch. Ming-Chi Kuo
is claiming the Apple iPhone 7 will come in between 6mm and 6.5mm.
According to information leaked on Weibo by a reliable
tipster, Apple is testing out five iPhone 7 prototypes, each with its own
unique hardware characteristics. By the sound of it Apple is trying to figure
out which technologies would go best in the upcoming model, all the while
keeping an eye on the performance of its suppliers,” said the report.
“Reportedly, some of the technologies that can be found in these prototypes
include a USB Type-C connector compatible with headsets, wireless charging
technology, multi-Force Touch, dual camera configurations, and fingerprint
recognition technology embedded within the display.”
There’s also strong hints that Apple is working on doing
away with the physical home button and embedding a virtual home button and
Touch ID in the screen itself, but that might not come until the iPhone 8.
Multiple sources are now claiming Apple is looking to do
away with traditional headphones, meaning no 3.5mm jack-support on the Apple
iPhone 7. It will be replaced by a lightning port.
Apple iPhone 7 – Camera
The Apple iPhone 6s gained a huge camera upgrade with its
12-megapixel high-quality rear camera and its 5-megapixel front FaceTime
camera. But going to the Apple iPhone 7 we expect the camera upgrade to be less
pronounced. Apple will probably keep to a 12-megapixel rear camera but add
OIS(optical image stabilization) across the line.
The Apple iPhone 6s also gained 4k video recording on the
rear camera–something we don’t see changing or expanding on for the Apple
iPhone 7. However, it’s possible the front FaceTime camera could gain 4k video
recording in the Apple iPhone 7.
Apple iPhone 7 – Processor
As is customary for new Apple products, investors should
expect Apple to deliver a new applications processor (known as the A10), which
should, once again, deliver best-in-class CPU and graphics performance, as well
as other functionality to support the rest of the iPhone’s subsystems (such as
the camera).
Beyond that, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi
Kuo, we should expect the 4.7-inch iPhone to pack two gigabytes of memory while
the 5.5-inch model will come with three gigabytes of memory.
Apple iPhone 7 – Wireless
charging
The second aspect suggested by the report is that Apple
will include wireless charging in the Apple iPhone 7. This has also been linked
with the device for quite some time, but these suggestions have now been
further solidified. It is worth noting that Apple generally does not include
technology in the iPhone range until the corporation believes that it has been
absolutely perfected, so this will undoubtedly influence its decision over
wireless charging. If Apple does decide to incorporate wireless charging into
the iPhone range, it will probably be focused on ensuring that similar charge
speeds to wired charging are possible.
Wireless charging remains one of the most frustrating
technologies around, because while it’s here, it works and it feels like living
in the future, it isn’t as widely supported as we’d like.
An Apple iPhone 7 with wireless charging would be great,
especially if the same charger worked for the Apple Watch too. And if it could
support both wireless standards as well, like the Galaxy S6, then that would be
just swell.
Apple iPhone 7 – Displays
The iPhone 6s gained the 3D Touch display that the Apple
Watch has (there, it is called the Force Touch display)–of course the Apple
iPhone 7 will adopt this 3D Touch display as well. But we also expect the Apple
iPhone 7 to get a higher resolution display, specifically a QHD one with a
resolution of 2560 x 1440 with 401 PPI (pixels-per-inch), as many Android
handsets have.
Apple could also make subtle upgrades to the 3D Touch
display in the Apple iPhone 7–for example, making it sensitive to more than two
types of pressure inputs, but other than that we don’t expect the 3D Touch
display to change much.
Also, it is unlikely that the Apple iPhone 7 will adopt
an AMOLED display, which is found in Samsung phones and the Apple Watch, according
to Kuo. In a recent investors note he stated:
“Based on recent
comments by Minebea, one of the main iPhone backlight unit suppliers, we
believe AMOLED will not penetrate iPhone for the next three years. Moreover,
Hon Hai is preparing to invest in Gen-6 LTPS TFT-LCD production lines in
Zhengzhou, China for mass production in 2018, suggesting the iPhone line will
likely stick with TFT-LCD technology in 2018 and thereafter.
Apple iPhone 7 – Faster
cellular, potentially faster Wi-Fi
The Apple iPhone 7 will use Qualcomm’s X12 LTE modem,
which should lead to a doubling of peak download speeds from what the iPhone 6s
can deliver; peak upload speeds should triple.
Apple also significantly improved Wi-Fi speeds in its
last two iPhone releases as it has been more aggressive in adopting newer
connectivity combo chips from Broadcom. I expect that Broadcom (which is being
acquired by Avago) will announce new connectivity chips in the February/March
timeframe, if/when that happens, we should have a good idea of what kind of
Wi-Fi performance increase to expect in the next generation iPhones.
Apple iPhone 7 – Waterproof
There are the rumours that the next iPhone will be
waterproof. This rumour started back in 2014 with an Apple Patent application,
which has since been granted, for a technique known as Plasma-Assisted Chemical
Vapour Deposition (PACVD) to coat the internal components and make them water
resistant.
Apple iPhone 7 – Storage
Apple iPhone 7 will come in the three variants- 32GB,
64GB, 128GB and there is also another rumour that the Apple iPhone 7 will be
the first smartphone to have 256GB of storage. This would be double the current
128GB maximum of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Apple iPhone 7 – iPhone 7c
Go to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities is
back with more assertions that Apple will release a 4-inch iPhone early next
year as a follow-on to the plastic-backed iPhone 5c. Kou states:
“As there is still demand for a 4-inch iPhone, we believe
Apple will upgrade this product line. Because the iPhone 5s is more popular
than the iPhone 5c, we think Apple is likely to launch an upgraded iPhone 5s.
We predict Apple will mass-produce this new 4-inch iPhone in 1H16 with metal
casings. In order to make the current iOS 9 or next-generation iOS 10 run
smoothly, Apple may adopt an A9 chip for this new phone.”
Apple iPhone 7 – Release
Date
If there’s been one reliable thing about Apple’s iPhone
launches, it’s that they happen just once a year. Given that the iPhone 6S was
launched in September 2016, a year after the iPhone 6, it doesn’t take a genius
to work out that the iPhone 7 will come in September 2016. Apple iPhone 6S @
Rs. 50,999
