The iPhone 7 is pretty far away, if we are to be honest, but that doesn’t stop diligent tech enthusiasts from gathering leaks, rumors and specs about the upcoming Apple flagship. The iPhone 7 is said to become one of the best smartphones on the planet, but considering the fact that the same thing was said about the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, we reserve the right to be a little bit skeptical. The iPhone 7 price will be most interesting, since Apple kind of already jumped the hoop with the expensive iPhone 6 Plus which can set you back as much as $900.
The iPhone 7 name might be controversial, as some call it the iPhone 6S, but since Apple hasn’t confirmed the handset yet, or said anything about it whatsoever, it remans up to speculation and we should hear about it sometime next year from the Cupertino company. Be it the iPhone 7 or 6S, rumors have been saying that Apple might surprise us with a handset designed to support virtual and augmented reality. 9to5Mac has got its hands on a job listing from Apple, who is looking for virtual reality app engineers. While the job listing doesn’t mention that the post is specifically meant to fill in a spot on the iPhone 7 developer and designer team, we can assume as much.
Virtual reality engineers at Apple might be working on specific apps to cater to the variety of VR and AR headsets, but we could say that maybe the company is planning to put some virtual reality in the iPhone 7 itself, although that is a bit unlikely. Most likely is that Apple wants to develop its own virtual reality goggles or headset, which would be a bit late to the market since we already have the Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard DIY and many more that compete against each other at the moment. That being said, we might be right in expecting an iPhone 7 accessory launched beside the phone itself.
When it comes to the iPhone 7 release date, rumors say it should be set around Q3 of 2015 and might come with a 3D compatible display, which would be a first for the smartphone market. A September launch is most probable for the iPhone 7, but if we look at the Apple timeline of devices, we wouldn’t be surprised if the company didn’t launch anything at all next year. While it’s unlikely that Apple would stay out of such a competitive market, the company might bail on the competition altogether.
The iPhone 7 camera is rumored to end up as a dual-lens setup, similar to the HTC One M8, with a depth-sensor and optical image stabilization. Seeing as Apple’s bigger flagship this year, the iPhone 6 Plus was actually enhanced with optical image stabilization, we are sure the next Apple phone will follow in its footsteps. The iPhone 6 doesn’t have OIS because of its size and thinness, but if Apple listens to users and decide to make a phone with a bigger body and subsequently bigger battery, we might see OIS on the iPhone 7. MP count would be somewhere around 13 MP, which would be more than enough for an iSight camera on the iPhone 7.
The iPhone 7 display could end up being larger than the 5.5 inch screen we’ve got on the iPhone 6 Plus, made entirely out of sapphire glass. That would definitely bring the price of the iPhone 7 up a notch or two. At the same time, we think that Apple might prefer making a smaller display or an identical one to the iPhone 6 Plus, even though this year’s phablet was well-received all around the world. Save for the bending issues, that is. It is uncertain whether the iPhone 7 display will have QHD resolution, but seeing as it has become the new trend, we might see Apple complying with that. The display could also end up being a flexible one, as Apple had previously filed a patent detailing a phone with a flexible panel on its edges, similar to the Galaxy Note Edge. That would be quite the sight to witness, as the Galaxy Note Edge didn’t receive the praise Samsung intended it to.
iPhone 7 specs include a quad core Ax8 CPU with 128 or 256 GB internal storage. We don’t expect to see a microSD card slot available in the next Apple flagship, since Tim Cook and co. have got us used to not having that on our Apple devices. In any case, we also expect the iPhone 7 to have at least 2 or 3 GB RAM, so that powerful 64 bit CPU doesn’t go to waste. Some say that we could see a projector on the iPhone 7, like we’ve seen on the Galaxy Beam or Yoga Tablet 2 Pro, but that would mean a price surely passing the $1000 mark.
Software-wise, we haven’t heard anything about a new mobile OS from Apple, but there will surely be some updates hitting iOS 8 a year from now. While iOS 8 has become pretty stable and powerful, it could still use some improvements. We don’t think the company would launch a new OS so soon, but we will have to wait and see. TouchID will also be on the iPhone 7, save for the physical home button – getting rid of that. Since Apple Pay will probably become more widespread by then, rumors say the NFC chip Apple put in the iPhone 6 will be ported to the iPhone 7 and opened up to developers. That means the iPhone 7 might be usable with NFC tags and the like, which would be pretty neat.
When it comes to the iPhone 7 price, some speculate it being between $600 and $850, which wouldn’t be so outrageous considering Apple’s track record. But if we see a projector, a 3D panel, a curved display and sapphire glass, I honestly expect it to be as expensive as some mid-range to high-end laptops we can find at the moment. In any case, keep in mind that all these iPhone 7 specs, release dates and prices are still rumors, so please take them with a grain of salt. Even though these are rumors, the CPU and sapphire glass aren’t too far fetched, so we’re definitely expecting at least those to make an appearance on the upcoming iPhone 7. Check out our slideshow for various iPhone 7 concepts and tell us which you like best!
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- iPhone 7 concept with edge display
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- iPhone 7 concept with hanging edge flexible display
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- Flexible iPhone 7 concept
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- iPhone 7 concept
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- iPhone 7 concept without a home button