With the March 21 introduction of the 4-inch iPhone SE now in the rear-view mirror, we have turned our speculative focus to the forthcoming iPhone 7, expected to materialize sometime later this year. In a TV interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer in early May, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the iPhone 7 will have a killer feature: "We are going to give you things that you can't live without, that you just don't know you need today."
So, a pretty high bar has now been set. And to be clear: we have no hard info. But between assumptions and the new expectations set by Cook, we paint below a portrait of the most intriguing gossip about Apple's next big thing.
Editors' note: This story was originally posted on December 14, 2015 and last updated on May 21, 2016.
 |
Announcement and release dates
According to Apple's traditional cadence, iPhone models always debut in the fall. That changed on March 21, 2016, with the introduction of the iPhone SE, a new model that combines the look of the iPhone 5S with the soul of theiPhone 6S.
That noted, the iPhone SE is a relatively minor, mid-cycle update that brings little to the table in terms of design, features, or specs. Given this, there remains a pervasive expectation that we'll see the next major iPhone update, right on schedule, in the fall of 2016.
Could Apple flip the script and bring out a new iPhone at its Worldwide Developer's Conference, which it recently confirmed is scheduled to begin on June 13, 2016? Highly unlikely.
Design
For the past several years, Apple's iPhone updates have followed a predictable cycle: major design changes in even-numbered years, followed by "under the hood" tech upgrades that keep the same basic physical chassis in odd-numbered "S phone" years. For 2016, then, a total redesign is a near certainty -- possibly with some dramatic innovations.
However, the iPhone 7 may buck this trend. According to Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz, supply chain murmurs indicate that the iPhone 7 won't have "any must-have form factor changes," suggesting that we'll see only a few modest refinements and perhaps some newer internal components. In this vein, MacRumors has suggested that the iPhone 7 will have a design that's "very similar" to that of theiPhone 6 and 6S, though without the antenna bands that run across the current generation. And we still expect the company to release two versions of the phone -- ostensibly, a standard-sized, 4.7-inch iPhone 7 and larger 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus.
Display
There is a particularly durable rumor about a sapphire display, which would offer a higher degree of scratch and shatter-resistance than the current models' Gorilla Glass. In fact, the higher-end Apple Watch models have sapphire displays -- as well as OLED technology that provides best-in-class black levels, contrast and colors on a growing assortment of smartphones (including the Samsung Galaxy S7).
|