The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have barely launched in the UK and we’re already thinking about next year’s iPhone 7 – the tech world has a short attention span, I guess. The web is full of speculation about new iPhone(s) that Apple will launch in 2016, so in this article we’re going to gather all the rumours about the iPhone 7: its release date, design, specs and features, and any leaked photos and concept illustration that we get hold of.
We’re sure to see a next-generation iPhone in 2016, but what will the new iPhone 7 look like? (Traditionally Apple alternates between internal upgrades for the ‘S’ update, then a physical redesign for the full-number update, so a radically redesigned chassis could be on the cards.) What new features can we expect? And when will the iPhone 7 come out? We round up the evidence to bring you everything there is to know about the iPhone 7 so far.
Bookmark this page for a regularly updated summary of all the information currently available – and all the rumours doing the rounds – related to the iPhone 7: details, clues, hints and rumours, as well as any leaked photos of the iPhone 7 that emerge. We’ll update the article whenever we hear worthwhile new information (or scurrilous but interesting gossip) on the subject of the next iPhone.
Main sections in this article:
- Macworld’s verdict on the iPhone 7
- Introduction: What is the iPhone 7?
- iPhone 7 launch date rumours
- iPhone 7 design rumours
- iPhone 7 new features rumours
- iPhone 7 specification rumours
- iPhone 7 images and videos: leaked images, concept illustrations etc
If you’re looking for information about the current iPhone range, by the way, read our iPhone 6s review, Phone 6s Plus review, iPhone 6 review, iPhone 6 Plus reviewand iPhone 5s review; and our iPhone buyers’ guide.
Finally, find out what’s in store for Apple fans throughout the rest of this year: Apple predictions for 2015. And take a look at Apple patents and the clues they offer about the future of iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch & Mac.
In a nutshell: Macworld’s verdict on the iPhone 7
In our iPhone 7 rumour roundup we cover a lot of ground: you’d be amazed by the clues, hints and general speculation about the iPhone 7 that people have managed to dig up. But for those who don’t want all the detail, the following section sums up our verdict on the whole thing. Consider it a sort of TL;DR for the article as a whole.
In a nutshell, then, we reckon:
1) Apple will launch a couple of new iPhones in September 2016.
2) We expect a 4.7-inch phone (called the iPhone 7), and a 5.5-inch model (the iPhone 7 Plus). If Apple does make another 4-inch iPhone (which, thanks to the success of the larger iPhones, is by no means a certainty) then we think it’ll be called something like the iPhone 7 mini.
3) The iPhone 7 is likely to get a substantial physical redesign after the largely identical iPhone 6/6s generations. It’s too early to know what direction Apple will pick, but it’s likely to be thinner than ever: putting the ‘cut-down headphone socket’ patent into action would be one way to help achieve this.
4) Battery life in the iPhone 7 may be a little better than in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, but Jony Ive’s comments have made it plain that Apple doesn’t consider a higher battery life to be worth significant sacrifices in other areas (we suspect that, if they’re honest, most smartphone buyers would agree) and Apple’s larger-screen iPhones have decent batteries already.
5) Higher screen resolution is a possibility – Apple exploded the ‘Retina is as sharp as your eyes can see’ myth with the iPhone 6 Plus, and the company is playing catchup against many of its rivals in this department. Apple may well apply the pixel density of the iPhone 6 Plus and 6s Plus to all the models in the next generation; it could go even higher. And a harder screen material would play well, whether Apple manages to resurrect the sapphire situation or goes with Corning’s new Project Phire.
6) 16GB will surely be phased out as the lowest storage offering. It’s nowhere near enough in this day and age. We hope and expect the iPhone 7 to start at 32GB, with 64GB and 128GB options.
7) The iPhone 7 could get a USB-C port, like the new 12-inch MacBook, but we think this is unlikely. The change from 30-pin to Lightning is recent enough (and was painful enough for many users) that to switch again now would be highly controversial.
8) And as for the other out-there rumours? 3D screen: no. Curved display: probably not. Flexible display: nope. Edge-to-edge screen: yes, quite possibly. Spring-out gaming joystick in the Home button: definitely not. Wireless charging: quite possibly.
