“Apple Inc. is preparing to unveil successors to the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus as early as next month with more advanced photography capabilities and upgraded hardware in a design similar to that of last year’s models, according to people familiar with the matter,” Mark Gurman reports for Bloomberg. “The standout features will be a dual-camera system on the larger iPhone, a re-engineered home button that responds to pressure with haptic feedback and the removal of the devices’ headphone jack, said the people, who didn’t want to be identified discussing unannounced features.”
“The new models will be critical to the holiday quarter, and Apple is counting on the phones to prop up sales ahead of an expected iPhone overhaul in 2017, the device’s 10th anniversary,” Gurman reports. “Moving away from the typical two-year iPhone redesign cycle, this year’s models will look similar to the 6 and 6S, the people said, who added that there will still be noticeable tweaks. ”
“The dual cameras on the larger new iPhone will produce brighter photos with more detail, according to a person who has used a prototype version of the upcoming device,” Gurman reports. “Apple is planning an updated home button for the new models. Current home buttons are switches that physically press into the phone, but the new models will have a pressure-sensitive button that provides feedback to the user via a vibrating haptic sensation rather than a true physical click, according to the people. This mechanism is similar to that of the trackpads on the latest MacBook line.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Calendar fourth quarter will set the quarterly iPhone unit sales record.
And what about (iPhone tech duplication to) the next iPad?
Making iPhone news is easy 😉
I said it would never happen but I do believe I’m going to jump up from a 6 to a Plus model this time around. It’s like TVs. Once you’ve already got a 55″ sitting on your wall, it hardly seems much of a change to swap it out for a 65″ or 75″ next time you upgrade….
Putting a larger TV set on your wall is one thing, but putting a larger iPhone into your pocket is more likely to involve trade-ofsf. It’s an entirely different decision making process. It may be a good solution for you, but it would be a poor solution for others.
…’may have’, ‘said to have’, ‘probably have’ etc etc. Truth is, no one knows a single feature of the new iPhone until it’s released. You can rely on Apple to spring a surprise at launch.
Due to the way that hardware features are routinely leaked, it’s not so easy for Apple to surprise us with new features.
The biggest surprises from Apple these days tend to be things that can’t obviously be identified as new physical components, such as when they introduced the 64 processor or the Swift programming language.
Both would have involved a massive amount of work from teams within Apple, but they are able to keep things secret, unlike the people working in third-party companies.
Good idea with this new home button, if a design goal is better water/moisture resistance. The current home button is a weak point. The “re-engineered home button that responds to pressure with haptic feedback” would have no seam. Along with no more old-school headphones jack, the iPhone would be more resistant to water and moisture.
Others have already got IP certified phones and tablets, while still retaining the headphone jack and home button. So removing them is not necesary for better water resistance. There may be other reasons to do it but it can be achieved without removing these items.
The home button has always been a weak point of iPods, iPhones, and iPads. My hand me down iPhone 4 still works great in nearly every respect…but the home button is balky, requiring multiple pushes that often inadvertently initiates voice control.
The home button can be sealed or it can be eliminated. Either way, I just want it to remain reliable over time.
I wonder if the dual cameras can do 3D image files?
Waterproofing the phone will be useful. It’s been the cause of several replacements in my household.
What makes MDN think the 4th quarter will set records? Everything coming out to date says that this will be a lackluster iPhone update, more of a 6sx or 6se than a new phone. No headphone jacks isn’t exactly gonna send masses stampeding to Apple Stores. From everything I’ve read so far, true waterproofing will be the only gotta have it feature.