iPhone 7 rumours blog: Apple working on totally wireless headphones and wireless charging

According to earlier reports, Apple will get rid of the 3.5mm standard headphone jack on iPhone 7. It’s not clear if these totally wireless headphones will be sold inside the iPhone 7 box or if Apple will large separately for these.

Thinner camera module, no antenna bands:  Apple’s iPhone 7 will have two significant design changes from the iPhone 6s series, says a report on MacRumors.

According to the report, the iPhone 7’s camera will be slimmer and won’t protrude slightly on the back of the device as is the case with the current iPhone 6s series. The report also says that the iPhone 7 won’t have antenna bands across the back.

Cutting-edge wireless charging for next generation iPhone and iPad: Apple is reportedly working on a new kind of wireless charging technology for its iPhone and iPad devices, reports Bloomberg.

According to the report, new devices with this tech will launch as early as 2017, although it’s unclear if this tech will be available on iPhone 7 as well.

Smarphones with wireless charging technology use inductive charging, which needs to be in contact with a charging pad for drawing sufficient power. Apple’s wireless charger might just work from some distance, and the company is in talks with its partners around the same.

Dual-camera set-up in iPhone 7 Plus:  Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said in a note, that the new iPhone 7 Plus will have a dual-rear camera set-up.

Apple Insider has reported about the note and it points out that Apple was said to be working on something similar in 2014, but that never hit the markets. We’ve seen devices like Qiku’s Q Terra come with such a set-up as well.

Ming is known for his accuracy with Apple rumours, and his note says that Apple got the technology with its purchase of LinX, an Israeli firm that specialises in the field. We’ll have to wait and see if Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus does indeed come with a dual-rear camera.

3GB RAM for iPhone 7 Plus: According to a report on MacRumors, which quotes KGI Securities’ noted Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, the Cupertino-giant plans to include 3GB RAM in iPhone 7 Plus, while iPhone 7 will have 2GB RAM.

While Apple might bump up RAM in iPhone 7 Plus, Ming does not believe that the new A10 chip will offer any great, new performance upgrade.

No iPhone 6c, get ready for iPhone 5se: Apple won’t be launching a 4-inch-screen, waterproof iPhone 6c as was being rumoured. Instead the company launch a new iPhone 5se, an upgraded version of the original 5s, claims a 9to5Mac report.

The report says that the phone could launch in March or April, but it is not a preview for iPhone 7, and that it will have a headphone jack.

New code confirms death of headphones: According to a 9to5Mac report, code in iOS 9.3 appears to confirm that Apple will get rid of the headphone jack in iPhone 7.

The report says, that jailbreaker @kyoufujibaya discovered reference to a code in iOS 9.3.1 that confirmed this development.

Li-Fi wireless data: Sam Oliver of AppleInsider.com has found references to the experimental high-speed wireless networking protocol in recent versions of iOS.

Li-Fi works a bit like infrared remote control and “data is transmitted by rapidly modulating a light source, and received with a light sensor before being re-assembled into an electronic signal”. The report says, “Apple is known to be working on hardware implementations for light-based wireless data transfer, or optical wireless communication”.

Must read: Apple to launch 4-inch screen iPhone 5se in March: report

iOS 9.3 features: Apple seems to be working on a full iOS 9.3 version at the moment. According to Gordon Kelly of Forbes.com, this “full blooded release” will have Smart Education Upgrades, support for smart screen filtering and more advanced 3D touch features.

The education features will reportedly include a shared iPad feature, which will lets students log into any iPad to access their apps, and there will also be a classroom app for a teacher to control all iPads in the class. Smart screen filtering support will let the device combine the clock and geo-location to adjust the screen. More on iOS 9.3 here.

No headphone jack: Several reports claim that Apple’s new iPhone 7 series won’t have a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Reports say that Apple could go for headphones which can be plugged into Lightning port, or possibly a pair of more expensive Bluetooth headphones.

The latest report from Fast Company says, that iPhone 7 will use the Lightning cable port for sound output, and “will be noticeably thinner.” The report quotes a source with knowledge of the company’s plans, and adds that Apple’s new iPhone 7 will have a noise-cancelling technology from Wolfson Microelectronics.

It adds that Apple could introduce a set of more expensive headphones possibly under the Beats brand, that it acquired in 2014.

Watch our video review of the Apple iPhone 6s Plus 

Earlier Japanese tech blog Macotakara had reported the same, and said that users will have to rely on a Digital to Analogue (DA) converter to use the older Earpod headphones.

Another report on Apple Insider pointed out how the company had showcased Lightning port supported accessories at WWDC in 2014, so the ‘no headphone jack’ news should not be surprising.  Apple Insider’s report also linked to a 2011 patent that could make this possible, and the patent shows a D-shaped connector that replaces current 3.5 mm jacks.

Thinner, waterproof, no aluminium frame: Rumours also claim that iPhone 7 will be thinner (6.1 mm as the iPod Touch), a feat made possible with the elimination of the headphone jack.

Japanese blog Macotakara says Apple has already been testing waterproof and dustproof prototypes of the iPhone 7. The report adds, that Apple could replace the metal frame seen in iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. The all-metal design was re-introduced in 2012 with iPhone 5.

Also read: Apple iPhone 6s Plus review: Mr Dependable

OLED display from Samsung, LG: While some blogs have indicated that Apple will stick with LCD displays in iPhone 7, a report from Korea’s Electronic Times said that LG Display and the panel-making unit of Samsung will supply organic light emitting diode (OLED) screens for Apple iPhone 7.

OLED screens are thinner and offer better picture quality, than mainstay liquid crystal display screens.

Must read: Apple iPhone 7 OLED display to be supplied by LG, Samsung: report

The report added that LG and Samsung Display are close to a final agreement with Apple for the screens, and that two firms plan a combined 15 trillion won ($12.8 billion) in capital expenditure to build up OLED production capacity over the next two to three years.

A smaller iPhone with 4-inch screen: The iPhone series for 2016 might come in three sizes, if one were to go by the rumours. While the regular iPhone 7 will have a 4.7-inch and a 5.5-inch screen for iPhone 7 Plus, reports also claim that Apple is working on a smaller iPhone with a 4-inch screen, which could be launched as early as March 2016.

Also see: iPhone 7 with no headphone jack, bigger MacBook Air: A quick look at some Apple rumours

iPhone 7c, or iPhone 6c as it is being called, will also be waterproof. According to Chinese tech blog MyDrivers, the smaller iPhone will have 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage and a 1,642mAh battery. Read more here.

A10 processor to be made by TMSC: With a new series of iPhone, Apple upgrades the processor and for iPhone 7, it will introduce the A10 processor generation.

According to a report in China Times, Taiwan based TSMC will be the exclusive manufacturer of the A10 potentially cutting off Samsung. Apple’s iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus come with chips from both Samsung and TMSC.

The report notes that the Apple’s A10 processor could be more efficient, and smaller in size allowing for more battery space.

Apple iPhone 7 with USB-Type C: G4Games has claimed that Apple is testing 5 different prototypes of the new iPhone 7 and that one could come with Type-C USB charging. The report also claims that Apple is testing another prototype with an AMOLED display.

Given that the Lightning port was introduced so recently the idea of a new charging port sounds unlikely.