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New iPhone 7 Design 'Confirmed' In First Leaked Images

This article is more than 7 years old.

Apple has had a bad week and now it is about to get a lot worse because the first detailed designs for the iPhone 7 range have leaked online...

Popular Japanese magazine Mac Fan is behind the scoop having attained detailed schematics of the 5.5-inch ‘iPhone 7 Pro’. For the uninitiated, the Pro is widely expected to become the new flagship of the iPhone 7 generation above the regular iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. It is also the most controversial.

So what do we learn? A lot and it is not all good news…

The Bad Stuff

Goodbye headphone jack - yes, the schematic shows Apple does indeed look set to go through with its risky plan to axe the technology sector’s oldest universal standard. I argued this would happen 22 months ago and the fact it is still on the table despite slowing iPhone 6S sales shows Apple is still a company that likes to take risks.

No second speaker - equally controversial is what Mac Fan’s schematics show will replace the lost headphone jack: nothing. This contradicts previous reports claiming a second speaker would be fitted for external stereo audio and, if true, this feels like a missed opportunity to me.

Read more - Apple Leak Reveals 'All Glass' New iPhone

Old design - confirming the claims of KGI Securities’ acclaimed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will also take a third risk by sticking with the three generation old chassis design first introduced with the iPhone 6. In fact, despite the loss of the headphone jack, Mac Fan’s schematics claim the iPhone 7 Pro will also remain 7.3mm thick - the same as the iPhone 6S Plus and 0.4mm thicker than the iPhone 6 Plus in 2014.

Given Apple admitted this week that a 16% fall in iPhone sales during the last quarter was largely down to the iPhone 6S not doing enough to excite customers, a lookalike iPhone 7 Pro is a big gamble. Of course with a radical ‘all glass’ iPhone 8 promised in 2017 (the 10th anniversary of the original iPhone), perhaps Apple is just biding its time until then.

Happily, however, the schematics are not only bearers of bad news. There’s some exciting stuff in there as well…

The Good News

Dual Lens Camera - this has been rumoured for some time and even leaked in the wild (images below) so Mac Fan’s schematics seem to rubber stamp the expectation that the iPhone 7 Pro will feature some potentially revolutionary optics. How the lenses will work is still unknown (it could be for normal and wide angle shots like the LG G5, or an enhanced zoom), but it suggests the most significant step up in iPhone photography for years.

More worryingly, rumours persist that it will only be the flagship iPhone 7 Pro that will get the dual lens camera with both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus missing out. In addition to this, no matter how great the dual lens setup is, the bulge from the camera also looks set to increase.

Smart Connector - look at the schematics closely and you’ll spot that the rear of the iPhone 7 Pro has three dots at its base indicating a ‘Smart Connector’ like the iPad Pro. What does this do? It allows the transfer of both data and power simultaneously which would open up the potential for iPad Pro-like accessories such as external keyboards which don’t require any batteries.

Ongoing Questions

Despite all this information, there are still questions the Mac Fan schematics don’t answer.

Firstly: antenna lines. We know Apple will reduce them substantially with the iPhone 7, but there will still be some at the top and bottom. These wouldn’t necessarily show up on a schematic (since they don’t affect external dimensions) but it may make some question the plans’ validity and we don’t know how they will look on the final device.

The other big question is how the iPhone 7 Pro will affect the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Since its introduction we’ve seen the Plus overshadow both the camera and display quality of the smaller model, so the addition of a third premium edition may have some concerned about new feature restrictions (single lens camera? smaller storage options?) on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

Either way, it is becoming increasingly clear that the iPhone 7 (and all its variations) won’t bring the radical design overhaul many might expect from a ‘number change’ year. How that will play out for Apple’s increasingly scrutinised bottom line remains to be seen…

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