Iphone 7 Concept
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| Iphone 7 |
Waterproof design
Several sites, including Apple Insider, note that the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus have significantly greater water resistance than their predecessors, including a 0.3mm wider 'lip' around the frame and a silicone seal around the logic boards. Some tech experts believe that the changes may foreshadow a completely waterproof iPhone 7 in 2016.
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| Iphone 7 |
Wireless charging
Apple is behind the curve on this one, as Samsung, Sony and LG have already released phones that charge without needing to be plugged in, but patent applications published yesterday by the US Patent and Trademark Office indicate that the California-based technology company may finally be preparing to incorporate wireless charging into its next generation phones.
Previously, Apple phones haven't been able to recharge without being plugged in because, until recently, wireless charging devices couldn't power batteries through the iPhone's aluminium case.
Wireless-charging handsets from other companies have tended to be made of plastic so that power can reach their batteries.
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| Iphone 7 |
But in July this year, Qualcomm unveiled a new wireless charger that works through metals, International Business Times reports, paving the way for Apple to be able to utilise the technology.
Apple's patent for 'Inductive Power Transfer Using Acoustic or Haptic Devices' appears to use a new metal coil which has a double function - in one mode the coil produces sound for the iPhone's speakers, and in another it can charge the phone wirelessly.
Wraparound screen
On 29 September, Apple filed a patent application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for what it calls "sidewall displays", [1]International Business Times reports.
The image accompanying the patent shows a phone with a screen that stretches all the way around the device.
Apple says that the reason for the patent is that many mobile devices on the market have come to feature a very similar design which makes no use of their side or rear surfaces.
"A large majority of portable electronic devices have settled into a standard form factor," Apple says in its patent, "namely a flat planar form factor with a display on one side and an opaque housing that contains the electrical components covering the rear surface of the device.
"Unfortunately, this popular form factor leaves the sides and rear surfaces of the device unused or at best configured with buttons and switches with fixed location and functionality."
The patent says that there is "a need for an improved form factor for portable electronic devices which allows functionality to extend to more than one surface of the device."
So perhaps the company is paving the way for a new wraparound display.
Intel inside?
According to a report by VetureBeat, the next generation of Apple iPhones could be powered by an Intel chip. The report claims that the chip manufacturer Intel has a team of 1,000 workers trying to ensure that Qualcomm, the company behind the A9 chip used in Apple's current phones, is ousted before the next devices come to market.
Nothing is signed yes, the site says, and it is possible that Apple may choose to use two suppliers for its chips rather than just one: "Apple may dual-source the LTE modems in its new iPhones from both Intel and Qualcomm. Today, Qualcomm’s 9X45 LTE chip is baked into all iPhone modems."
When mobile technology was in its infancy, Intel failed to adapt to the changing market and missed out on partnerships with some major manufacturers, so "This is a must-win for Intel," a source told VentureBeat.
If a partnership does come about, then sources say that Apple "could turn to Intel to build a new system-on-a-chip (SoC) in the future, which combines both the processor and LTE modem." This would help to save space and make the phone run faster.