There ’s really only one day of the year that ’s pretty safe from iPhone hearsay : the day the new manikin gets announce . The other 364 are all reasonable game when it come in to reading the tea leaf leave and sussing out what Apple has up its sleeves for the next iteration of the smartphone .
have ’s take a quick look at a few of the most prominent rumors and explore whether or not they ’re probable to have a mystifying impact on this yr ’s iPhone .
Wireless Charging
The news that Apple had officially join the Wireless Power Consortium spurred rumors that Apple would finally get serious about adding wireless charging to the iPhone , even though it may simply comprise Apple ’s existing interests in wireless charging for the Apple Watch .
Wireless charging has shortcoming that might strike Apple as inelegant : It ’s still pretty dull , and while it might convenient while you ’re at home , it ’s somewhat less convenient when traveling . It seems like a engineering that ’s still more whatchamacallit than utilitarian feature of speech . Either way , the charging port is n’t going off any time shortly .
USB-C
get off ? No . But interchange ? Possibly . This hebdomad ’s newest rumor , thanks to the folks at theWall Street Journalis that Apple will ditch its Lightning port , which it first debuted almost five years ago , in favour of USB - C.
Flagship Android phone like Google ’s Pixel are all going USB - C.
While there are some advantage to USB - C — not just larboard standardization but quicker charging as well — Apple has been broadening Lightning ’s reach in the past few years , using it for charge on its keyboard , trackpad , mouse , and Apple TV remote . Not to bring up that the society just switched to Lightning EarPods packed in with the iPhone . Another connective will come along some day , there ’s no question of that , but on this year ’s iPhone ? Color me questioning .
Edge-to-edge OLED display
An so-called image of the Galaxy S8 .
Of all the rumor , a tumid screen , possibly using OLED technology , seems among the most likely for the next iPhone . Not merely becauserecently leak out images of Samsung Galaxy S8show a interchangeable , border - to - edge screen , but just because the tactual sensation control surface is the most important part of the smartphone , and anything that can be done to increase its size — especially without increase the size of the earpiece — is a compelling feature for users .
The iPhone Plus series has evince there ’s an appetite for a bigger display , and there have also been rumors that Apple will releasean iPad with a larger 10.5 - inch displayin the same trunk as the 9.7 - inch model .
As for the opening that Apple will supersede LCD screens with OLED , it ’s another of those technology that has always seemed just a duet years away and promised the world : lighter , thinner displays that provide in force line ratio ( include blacker blacks ) and better battery life . It ’s at long last begin seem in tv , but it is n’t cheap . Then again , Apple live in the premium pricing tier , so that ’s right up its alley . And , after three year of the iPhone 6 form constituent , the time might be correct for a more extensive overhaul . I ’d say it ’s likely .
No home button
You might argue Apple ’s already killed off the domicile button , since the one on the iPhone 7 is n’t really a button , just a touch - tender surface with haptic feedback . But if the border - to - sharpness screen is a realism , it becomes pretty hard to figure out where to put even that faux home release .
Some rumors suggest a dedicated “ interaction sphere ” at the bottom , but that could get messy : What if apps want to use that space ? How do you exit a full - screen experience , like a game ? The rest home clitoris has always served as an escape hatch , and while removing it would open up more material land for the presentation as well as more room for internal part , it ’s hard to fancy how a replacement would knead — but that does n’t intend Apple does n’t have a compelling story . ( As long as it ’s not “ bravery . ” )
Facial recognition or iris scanning
I ’ve already given the rumors of raw biometric featuresa thorough rundown . While adding one or the other is plausible , I do n’t see Apple abandon Touch ID . It ’s potential that the company might expand biometric options , but I was a trivial tentative about the fresh technology ask for this case of security , until …
Augmented reality
Tim Cook has enounce repeatedly that augmented realism is an area of interest for Apple . One hearsay claim thatmore than 1,000 engineers are puzzle out on AR at Apple , but it ’s another story — that Apple is working on a “ radical ” space - sensing 3D camera — that matter to me , since it sounds as though it ’s the same engineering that could be used for facial or iris recognition . If Apple does include a souped - up camera that can accommodate different use , I find that a much more compelling line for the next iPhone .
Larger battery
Look , without the amount of stuff that Apple could be add together here , the real challenge is adding enough battery life to power it all . The iPhone is already mostly bombardment , but losing some thickness and weight by switch to OLED could allow for more room , and Apple is great at engineering its components to be littler and smaller . Rumor has itthe company will use a “ stack system of logic board ” to pack in a expectant stamp battery .
As someone whose iPhone 7 seems to go out of succus all too fast , I have no job consider that Apple wants to extend the battery life of its phones . The Plus substance abuser already wish to wave their longer - lasting earphone in our faces , but I do n’t want a phone the sizing of a paperback novel . More battery in approximately the same space sounds witching , and I ’d bet on this as one of the most likely updates in this yr ’s iPhone .
Everything and the kitchen sink
Obviously , not all of these engineering science will make their way into the next iPhone , and there ’s likely to be other feature film that we have n’t caught malarky of yet . The good news is that with probable another six month until Apple is probable to make any annunciation about its next smartphone , we ’ve take nothing but clock time to occupy with more rumors and conjecture .
