Rumors

Short but sweet video out of China shows iPhone 7 design similar to previous leaks

Following a bunch of photographs, most of which have been leaking out of Asia, that purport to depict various iPhone 7 components, dummy cases and molds, a fully assembled iPhone 7 case has now been caught on video.

Posted to the Chinese social network Weibo by an unknown source, and first spotted by Dutch site TechTastic.nl, the short six-second clip gives us a look at the backside of what appears to be a 4.7-inch iPhone 7.

VIDEO: is Apple adding 3D Touch to iPad with Apple Pencil?

Many people are disappointed that the latest iPads lack 3D Touch-capable screens although it's anyone's guess whether or not 3D Touch would make sense on tablet-sized screens. Well, iOS 10 beta 2 apparently has 3D Touch-like functionality on the iPad thanks to the Apple Pencil, which has been discovered to support deep presses.

Using an Apple Pencil, it's possible to do things like clear all notifications with a deep press on the latest beta of iOS 10. Check out our video showing the feature in action and, as usually, let us know what you guys think of this.

Early CPU scores suggest modest gains for iPhone 7’s A10 chip vs. iPad Pro’s A9X

Early Geekbench 3 benchmark of the Apple-designed A10 system-on-a-chip—which will be the next iPhone and iPad's engine—was posted Thursday by Dutch blog TechTastic.nl. Purported scores suggest the device may not be much speedier than the iPhone 6s and iPad Pro. The upcoming chip scored a tad more than last year’s A9 powering the iPhone 6s series and a little bit faster than the A9X in the iPad Pro.

On the other hand, the benchmarked A10 is almost certainly a prototype unit so final scores should be higher than is currently the case.

Case molds depict what iPhone 7 may look like in Gold/Rose Gold, Space Gray and Silver

Italian site Macitynet.it posted this morning a photograph showing alleged 4.7-inch iPhone 7 case molds, giving us a decent indication what the upcoming handset may look like in Gold, Rose Gold, Space Gray and Silver finishes. If anything, the photo reaffirms Apple's rumored design for the next iPhone with cleaner antenna seams and a protruding camera on the back, plus the four colorways.

Rumor: iPhone 7 packs in a notably stronger battery than iPhone 6/6s

A sketchy Weibo post claimed two months ago that the next iPhone would arrive outfitted with a slightly stronger battery than the iPhone 6s. Today, prolific leakster OnLeaks gave us a more specific information as to precisely how bigger the iPhone 7's battery might be in comparison to the current iPhone 6s/Plus and previous-generation iPhone 6/Plus.

According to his Twitter post, the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 will have a 1,960 mAh battery, comparing very favorably in terms of sheer specs to both the 1,715 mAh package found in the iPhone 6s and the 1,810 mAh battery in the previous-generation iPhone 6.

Fully assembled Lightning-based EarPods shown on leaked images

Last month, a batch of photographs out of China claiming to depict a Lightning-based version of Apple’s standard EarPods headphones left us scratching our head due to the product's sketchy appearance. But now, French blog NowhereElse.fr points us to another set of leaked images, originally posted on the Chinese social network Weibo, that ostensibly show off a fully assembled EarPods headphones with a Lightning connector.

UPDATE: confirmed as fake.

Crisp iPhone 7 Plus snaps show Smart Connector and, confusingly, no Mute switch

The industry-standard 3.5mm headphone jack may not be the only widely-used feature that is thought to be on the chopping block for the next iPhone. A new batch of high-resolution photographs that surfaced last evening appear to show off a larger 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus model that doesn't seem to have the Mute switch on its side.

The photos were posted by French bog NowhereElse. The same publication released a set of images yesterday that gave us the clearest look yet at the iPhone 7's subdued antenna lines.

CAD renderings “confirm” many rumored iPhone 7 features

I generally avoid using the verb “confirm” together with “rumor” and its synonyms in the same sentence, but in this particular instance it's probably the right thing to do. Last night, claimed iPhone 7 technical drawings began circulating around the web, seemingly confirming many of the previously published rumors regarding Apple's upcoming smartphone refresh.

Re-posted by French blog NowhereElse.fr and originally published on Chinese social media, these CAD renderings show a notably subdued antenna lines, no headphone jack, a pair of speaker grilles for stereo sound at the bottom, dual-cameras on the back of the 5.5-inch model and an enlarged single-camera hole on the 4.7-inch model, among other interesting features.

WSJ: iPhone 7 storage options will start at 32GB

The storage options for the iPhone 7 will feature a higher starting point, reports The Wall Street Journal. Citing a person familiar with Apple's plans, the outlet says that instead of 16GB, the entry level model will come with 32GB of storage.

This isn't the first time we've heard this is going to happen with this year's iPhone, but coming from a source like The Journal certainly adds more weight to the theory. If true, this will solve a pain point that has been plaguing users for years.

Samsung Display is spinning off its successful OLED business ahead of OLED iPhones

Samsung Display, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, recently won a deal with Apple to supply its high-quality OLED panels for use in the next iPhone and now the South Korean company is spinning off its organic light-emitting diode (OLED) unit, The Korea Times reported Monday.

Samsung Display reported a 270 billion won (about $235.2 million) operating loss during the first quarter of this year due to the struggling LCD business and strong competition from Chinese makers of low-cost LCDs for mobile devices.