iPhone 7

Apple is reportedly building wireless earphones that will fit inside your ear and come with charging case

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 8, 2016

Apple is reportedly building brand new, completely wireless earphones that will fit inside of a user’s ear, along with a charging case, as per 9to5Mac.

The in-house designed hardware is similar in concept to the Motorola Hint headset and Bragi’s new Dash and said to include a noise-cancelling microphone system. The accessory will be “a premium alternative” to a Lightning-enabled version of the EarPods headset that's also in the works (EarPods are the wired in-ear headphones that came with your iPhone).

Three days ago, Japanese blog Macotakara first reported on Apple's plans to bundle the iPhone 7 with a wireless headset. The following day, Fast Company said Apple is working with a supplier on a new noise-canceling technology to be used both in the iPhone 7 and the new earphones to help remove background noise in music playback and in phone calls.

iPhone 7 again said to be waterproof and feature wireless charging

Cody Lee ∙ January 7, 2016

Apple's next iPhone will likely feature a thinner, waterproof body and other significant changes, reports Fast Company. Citing a source with knowledge of the company's plans, the outlet says the iPhone 7 will also feature wireless charging and special noise-canceling technology.

Additionally, Fast Company says the handset will ship without a 3.5mm headphone jack—something that has popped up in multiple iPhone 7 rumors. The move will allow Apple to make the device thinner, but will force users to switch to wireless or Lightning-enabled headphones.

iPhone 7 gets its first purported part leak

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 6, 2016

With a dozen or so rumors published thus far about Apple's next iPhone—let's dub it an 'iPhone 7'—today we finally get our first look at a claimed display backlight module for the device, courtesy of Taiwanese website Apple.club.tw.

Not much can be gleaned from the images except for some minor changes in the location of a flex cable and a chip that controls the 3D Touch sensor array. If Apple sticks to its release schedule, the iPhone 7 should hit the store shelves in early fall.

Apple allegedly plans to bundle iPhone 7 with wireless EarPods

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 5, 2016

Following a November 2015 claim by the Japanese blog Macotakara which asserted that Apple will ditch the standard 3.5mm headphone port on an 'iPhone 7' to focus exclusively on supporting Lightning-enabled headsets and wireless headphones, a new supply chain rumor published Tuesday by Chinese websites Anzhuo.cn and Feng claims that the Cupertino firm will actually bundle the next iPhone with a wireless version of its EarPods headphones to make up for the missing headphone jack.

Sketchy rumor calls for 256GB iPhone 7 Plus with 3,100 mAh battery

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 2, 2017

According to a sketchy rumor published yesterday by Chinese-language Mydrivers, Apple's forthcoming 5.5-inch 'iPhone 7 Plus' will come with a pair of exclusive features versus its 4.7-inch 'iPhone 7' sibling: a new 256-gigabyte storage option and a larger 3,100 mAh battery.

By comparison, the current-generation iPhone 6s Plus has a 2,750 mAh battery inside. The publication did not specify whether the inclusion of the 256GB option will result in the removal of the oft-critized sixteen-gigabyte option from the iPhone lineup.

iPhone 7 rumored to be waterproof, hide the antenna bands

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 29, 2015

According to a new supply chain rumor out of Taiwan, Apple's 'iPhone 7' will be waterproof and feature a brand new antenna-concealing technology that will hide those unsightly antenna bands which iPhone 6/6s owners have been complaining about.

As reported this morning by Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes, Apple's supplier Catcher Technologies will provide the iPhone 7 chassis which is said to be waterproof and use “new compound materials”.

KGI: 3D Touch-less iPad Air 3 due in H1 2016

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 15, 2015

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo shared some interesting predictions for 2016 iPhones and iPads in a note sent to clients this morning, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors.

For starters, Kuo is adamant that the third-generation iPad Air will be arriving in the first half of next year. The tablet won't be outfitted with a pressure-sensing screen due to alleged production issues related to building a 9.7-inch 3D Touch sensor array.

Sketchy report calls for iPhone 7 with USB-C, dual cameras, Touch ID-integrated screen & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

A sketchy rumor originating from sources in China has it that Apple is currently experimenting with at least five different iPhone 7 configurations, each with its own unique hardware characteristics.

Some of the features Apple is reportedly testing out for the next iPhone include a USB Type-C connector compatible with wireless headsets, wireless charging, multi-touch-capable Force Touch technology, dual cameras and a next-generation Touch ID technology embedded within the display.

Rumor: iPhone 7 to lose 3.5mm headphone port in favor of Lightning port

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 27, 2015

Apple's next iPhone will be so thin that the company has decided to ditch the standard 3.5mm headphone port for the first time since the iPhone's 2007 inception, a reasonably accurate Japaese blog, Macotakara, reported Friday.

The move should help Apple's engineers shave off another millimeter of thickness or so, reports the publication, adding that users will instead connect wireless headphones over Bluetooth or compatible wired headphones over the Lightning port.

Rumor: 5.5″ iPhone 7 has 3GB of RAM and waterproof chassis

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 2, 2017

According to a recent TrendForce analyst Avril Wu, Apple will edge closer to Samsung in smartphone market share in 2016 by continuing to advance the iPhone by adding some of the features commonly found on high-end Android devices.

For starters, the next iPhone—let's dub it an 'iPhone 7'—is expected to increase the amount of RAM in the 5.5-inch model by fifty percent to three gigabytes, just a year after the iPhone 6s doubled theRAM from one to two gigabytes.

iPhone 7 to run Synaptics’s display driver chips as Apple delays own in-house single-chip solution

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes is reporting that Apple has placed orders for display driver chips from supplier Synaptics for 2016 iPhones. This is interesting because rumors were swirling back in 2014 that Apple was buying Renesas SP Drivers, a division of Renesas Electronics and a sole supplier of LCD driver chips for iPhones.

The deal was supposed to help Apple “improve image sharpness and battery life” on iPhones, but negotiations broke down. Renesas was later acquired by touchscreen chipmaker Synaptics which wanted to combine its touch technology with Renesas’ display drivers into one chip.

4-inch iPhone refresh rumored to include A9 chip, iPhone 5s-style looks, Touch ID but no 3D Touch

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 4, 2015

In addition to calling for an iPhone 7 with three gigabytes of RAM, the mostly reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted in a note issued to clients Tuesday evening, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider, that the company is working on a major refresh for its four-inch iPhone.

“Resembling an upgraded iPhone 5s,” Kuo says the refreshed device will run Apple's A9 processor that powers the iPhone 6s and be released in the first half of next year, which would mark the first time an iPhone launched outside of its autumn (in the past: summer) schedule.