Apple’s iPhone 7: Launch date, cameras and possible versions

Apple’s annual iPhone reveal is one of the smartphone high points of the year. People from all over the world are going to be watching as the company reveals a handset that… looks pretty much the same as the last one.

And, as usual, the rumour mill starts grinding a lot faster the closer we get to Apple’s iPhone 7 announcement. We’re expecting more information to trickle out the closer we get to iPhone day – whenever that is – but here’s what we have so far.

Early Launch?

When are we going to see the iPhone 7 in the er… flesh? That’s the question that needs to be answered first and, according to Bloomberg, it has been. Apple’s yearly iPhone reveal is supposedly scheduled for 7 September this year, which would keep in line with previous outings. The company is known to be very specific about its habits.

Apple has yet to confirm the date (they’re not denying it, either) but if 7 September is indeed iPhone 7 day then the announcement will be competing with Sony’s PlayStation Neo reveal. Apple and Sony PlayStation service largely different markets but we don’t imagine that Cupertino will be pleased with anyone stealing any of their limelight. Older reports have claimed a 12 September reveal date for the iPhone 7. Either way, invitations should be going out soon which will put this item to bed.

Dead Model

Have you heard of the iPhone 7 Pro? If you have then you might as well forget it. Maybe. For those who missed it, Apple was rumoured to have a third variant of the iPhone headed out way this year. We could have seen the iPhone 7, the iPhone 7 Plus and then the iPhone 7 Pro. Except… it was not to be. At least, that’s the word according to Nikkei.

Except that you have to read between the lines in that report. Foxconn are reportedly making glass casings for Apple’s handsets in a last-minute redesign that suggests that the company has something unusual going on with their lineup this year. Some reports claim that Apple is canning the iPhone Plus range of devices, replacing them with an iPhone Pro – which would be unusual since Apple isn’t known for crossing the streams of their product lineup. Or… it could be the other way around, with the rumoured Pro just disappearing. Or we might have seen two iPhone 7 Plus models, one with a single cam and one without. Speaking of which…

Twin Cams

Apple have long been thought to be bringing dual cameras to the iPhone, prompting other manufacturers to attempt to beat the fruit company to the punch. This seems more likely than ever, thanks to images of what is claimed to be the iPhone 7’s logic board. First spotted by Dutch website TechTastic, the board shows differences between the new handset’s board and the iPhone 6S.

The differences could be as simple as Apple wanting to move things around to make a thinner device, something that they’re always after doing. But the changes, which see a screw being removed from the upper part of the board, also suggest that Apple needed some extra space right where the camera sensors usually go.

As is usual we’ll probably have to wait until the day (whenever that is) when Apple’s official specs ‘leak’ just prior to their event. We’re already pretty certain that we know what’s coming but there’s almost always one more thing…

Source: Bloomberg, The Next Web 1, 2