Although the latest version of Apple’s signature smartphone has been released only two months ago, speculation about the Cupertino-based giant’s next handset have already started. Several sources – Mac World, the International Business Times, and others – have already started collecting alleged information about the new handset. Let’s see what they know – or think they know – at this point.
The name
First of all, the new smartphone Apple is going to release next year – as it has done in all previous years – might not be an iPhone 7 at all. Instead it may be a device called the iPhone 6S. Apple has a history with similar launches – remember the iPhone 3G and the 3GS, the iPhone 4 & 4S, the iPhone 5 and 5S. The next device will more likely be a “stepping stone for the new iPhone”, as Mac World refers to it. Time will tell.
Release date
If the new device will indeed be an iPhone 7, it will most likely be released sometime late in the fourth quarter of 2015. According to some rumors, though, Apple plans to modify its release cycle to keep up with the competition – with so many new handsets being released (most of them running Android), Apple must keep the pace. So, a possible iPhone 6S might even be released next spring.
Features
Given the users’ taste for large screens, the next iPhone will most likely have a screen with a diagonal of at least 4.7″ or above. Making a bigger iPhone – one even bigger than the iPhone 6 Plus – would be illogical. There are 6″ phones out there, and they are almost indistinguishable from 7″ tablets, that are not quite something you would imagine yourself holding to your ear.
Wireless charging will be most likely a feature introduced with the new version of the iPhone. Apple still owes this feature to its users (Nokia has released a wireless charging phone a full year before the iPhone 6). A better camera, 4G, a new iteration of Apple’s CPU and a new version of the iOS operating system will also most likely be included in the release.
Although there is much speculation about the new iPhone’s pricing, I think it’s useless to talk about it. Apple’s products have always been pricey, most of them offering a much better user experience for this price, and this will likely not change with the coming iPhone generations. Remember – none of the above information comes from Apple, these are all rumors and speculations. How much of the above will come true, only time will tell.