“Sales for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have been phenomenal, blowing past any previous first weekend sales results in Apple’s history,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Customers’ feedback is incredible and they are loving 3D Touch and Live Photos, and we can’t wait to bring iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to customers in even more countries on October 9.”
But those iPhone 6s sales could pale in comparison to the next iPhone 7. So without further ado, let’s gaze into our crystal ball to see what each phone will be like, starting with the specs:
iPhone 6s vs Likely iPhone 7: Major Specs
Current iPhone 6s
- Display: 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch 3D Touch, max res of 1920×1080
- Design: It looks exactly the same as the iPhone 6 (rounded corners, aluminum body)
- Storage: 16, 64, and 128GB
- CPU and RAM: A9 processor, 2GB RAM
- Front Camera: 5MP
- Rear Camera: 12MP, 4K video recording
Likely iPhone 7
- Display: 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch 3D Touch, but likely with a QHD display of 2560 x 1440 resolution
- Design: Completely new design. Thinner body and bezel.
- Storage: 32, 64, and 128GB
- CPU and RAM: A10 processor, 3GB RAM
- Front Camera: 5MP with wide angle lens
- Rear Camera: 12MP, 4K video recording, optical image stabilization.
The important thing to remember with iPhone upgrades is that the tock “S” cycle upgrade primarily see internal enhancements and the tick prime upgrades see body design changes. That’s why the iPhone 6s had more radical internal changes from the iPhone 6 than the iPhone 6s will to the iPhone 7. The iPhone 6s got the A9 processor and FINALLY 2GB of RAM. That means that the iPhone 7 will almost certainly have an A10 chipset and 3GB of RAM. Traditionally Apple has kept the amount of RAM the same for more than one year, but by the time the iPhone 7 ships in autumn 2016, most Android phones will have 4GB RAM minimum. Apple will need to keep up, if not match it.
As for storage options, with the iPhone 7 we finally expect Apple to drop the 16GB entry level option for a 32GB entry level model. Needless to say, dropping the 16GB storage model is long overdue. No one, NO ONE should buy a 16GB smartphone. You’ll fill it all up with large 12MP photos in the first month you own it.
iPhone 6s vs Likely iPhone 7: Design
The iPhone 6s looks exactly as the iPhone 6 does, just a bit thicker. But if that iPhone 6s design is looking a bit stale to you, then you are going to love the iPhone 7. It will feature a radically different design. What to expect? A thinner body is guaranteed. KGI Securities superstar analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has an excellent track record with predicting iPhone specs, says the iPhone 7 will be Apple’s thinnest yet–approaching the thinness of the iPod touch (which is really, really thin) Kuo expects the iPhone 7 to be between 6.0mm and 6.5mm thin (the iPod touch is 6.1mm thin).
Another rumor is that the iPhone 7 could adopt glass-on-glass touch panels instead of the current in-cell touch panels used. This would allow Apple to make the iPhone 7 a bezel-free phone, which would be amazing. However, it would also make the iPhone 7 a bit thicker–and if Kou is right about the iPhone 7 being thinner, it’s likely it won’t adopt a glass-on-glass touch panel, which means the iPhone 7 will still have a bezel.
MacWorld has THREE theories on how Apple’s iPhone 7 will differ from 2015’s iPhone 6s model, which are as follows:
1) Apple will launch a couple of new iPhones in September 2016. This theory that Apple will push the launch forward to summer 2016 seems thin to us.
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.
There’s also strong hints that Apple is working on doing away with the physical home button and embedding a virtual home button and Touch ID in the screen itself, but that might not come until the iPhone 8. Apple has filed patents for such a in-screen home button, but the company files patents for everything–99% of which never make it into a shipping product. Also, Digitimes is reporting that Apple has placed LCD display driver orders with touchscreen supplier Synaptics for its next iPhone. It would not need these LCD display drivers if its own work on integrated Touch ID and displays were moving along at pace.
One aspect of the new iPhone 7’s potential design could cause some users some issues, however, as multiple sources are now claiming Apple is looking to do away with traditional headphones, meaning no 3.5mm jack-support on the iPhone 7. It will be replaced by a lightning port, apparently, and this of course means you’ll have to buy and adaptor in order to make your old headphones work with the iPhone 7.
Why is Apple doing this? Apparently it is ALL about design. Apple wants to make the iPhone 7 1mm thinner than the iPhone 6s and in order to do this it needs to ditch the traditional 3.5mm jack port. Fortunately, Apple’s lightning connector is EXACTLY the right size and, fortunately again, Apple has no issues selling you a $15 convertor to access it.
Sounds crazy, right? But remember: Apple did exactly the same thing with CD drives and USB ports on its MacBooks, so, yeah… you’ve been WARNED.
iPhone 6s vs Likely iPhone 7: Waterproofing
Earlier this autumn the internet freaked out when videos surfaced of the iPhone 6s surviving 30 minutes underwater. It turns out Apple secretly added new adhesive strips inside the iPhone 6s to block any moisture getting in. Now a Chinese Mac blog is claiming that this was just a dry run (get the pun) for Apple, and that the iPhone 7 will officially be certified as waterproof.
In addition to waterproofing by using internal gaskets, another Chinese site is claiming Apple will ditch the aluminum casing of the iPhone 6s for an all new plastic material on the iPhone 7 to make sure the device is fully waterproof. We don’t see Apple’s iPhone 7 being a plastic phone, but only time will tell.
iPhone 6s vs Likely iPhone 7: LTE chipset
Right now the iPhone 6s uses an LTE chipset from Qualcomm, but recent rumors point to Intel working on an iPhone-compatible LTE chipset for the iPhone 7. If this is true users won’t likely notice much of a difference. Instead, Apple would use the Intel LTE chip so it can drive component costs down.
iPhone 6s vs Likely iPhone 7: Display
The iPhone 6s gained the 3D Touch display that the Apple Watch has (there, it is called the Force Touch display)–of course the iPhone 7 will adopt this 3D Touch display as well. But we also expect the iPhone 7 to get a higher resolution display, specifically a QHD one with a resolution of 2560 x 1440, as many Android handsets have. By autumn of 2016 anything less that 2560×1440 will be the equivalent of what standard definition is today.
Apple could also make subtle upgrades to the 3D Touch display in the iPhone 7–for example, making it sensitive to more than two types of pressure inputs, but other than that we don’t expect the 3D Touch display to change much.
Also, it is unlikely that the iPhone 7 will adopt an AMOLED display, which is found in Samsung phones and the Apple Watch, according to Kuo. In a recent investors note he stated:
“Based on recent comments by Minebea, one of the main iPhone backlight unit suppliers, we believe AMOLED will not penetrate iPhone for the next three years. Moreover, Hon Hai is preparing to invest in Gen-6 LTPS TFT-LCD production lines in Zhengzhou, China for mass production in 2018, suggesting the iPhone line will likely stick with TFT-LCD technology in 2018 and thereafter. […]
Minebea, major BLU supplier of iPhone, stated to investors on November 5 that it does not foresee risk of TFT-LCD share loss to AMOLED in high-end smartphone market in next three years & guides growth in TFT-LCD going forward. As Apple and Samsung are the only two brands that currently offer premium smartphones, we think Minebea’s statements imply it does not expect iPhone to adopt AMOLED in the coming three years, given that Samsung’s models are already being equipped with it.”
iPhone 6s vs Likely iPhone 7: Camera
Internally the iPhone 6s gained a huge camera upgrade with its 12MP rear camera (up from the 8MP camera in the iPhone 6) and its 5MP front FaceTime camera (up for 1.8 MP in the iPhone 6). But going to the iPhone 7 we expect the camera upgrade to be less pronounced. Apple will probably keep to a 12MP rear camera but add optical image stabilization across the line (right now only the “Plus” models feature it). The iPhone 7 will also probably retain the same Face Time camera.
The iPhone 6s also gained 4k video recording on the rear camera–something we don’t see changing or expanding on for the iPhone 7. However, it’s possible the front FaceTime camera could gain 4k video recording in the iPhone 7.
iPhone 6s vs Likely iPhone 7: A new 4-inch iPhone?
One final prediction according to Kou is that Apple will launch a new 4-inch iPhone alongside the iPhone 7 in 2016. Kou states:
“As there is still demand for a 4-inch iPhone, we believe Apple will upgrade this product line. Because the iPhone 5s is more popular than the iPhone 5c, we think Apple is likely to launch an upgraded iPhone 5s. We predict Apple will mass-produce this new 4-inch iPhone in 1H16 with metal casings. In order to make the current iOS 9 or next-generation iOS 10 run smoothly, Apple may adopt an A9 chip for this new phone.”
Whether or not this new 4-inch iPhone is an updated iPhone 5 or a re-branded iPhone 7c – the iPhone 6s could see significant competition from iPhones on all sizes of the display spectrum.
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