It’s that time of year where we all get overly excited at the prospect of what the new iPhone will bring. Plenty of rumors have been spread about it being waterproof, having no headphone jack, and offering huge hardware boosts across the board.
What if that isn’t the case, though? We take a look at some of the more tame rumors that suggest that the iPhone 7 is more of an incremental improvement over the 6s, than anything revolutionary.
There are even rumors that Apple is moving to a three-beat release cycle where we’d have to wait three years to get a completely redesigned iPhone. According to that theory, this year’s iPhone might be more of an iterative, software-oriented update than the big revolution we’d normally expect.
1. It looks (mostly) the same
_
Image courtesy of NowhereElse._
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, seems to be the adage for a lot of the iPhone hardware revisions. Don’t count on the iPhone 7 looking hugely different from any of its predecessors.
There’s a strong chance that the camera lens might be bigger (and therefore better), but it’s almost certainly going to look the same. A recent leak has revealed photos of the iPhone 7 in the typical choice of Gold, Rose Gold, Space Gray, and Silver;. It might look a teensy bit sleeker, but that’s about it. Only those well versed in iPhones are going to immediately spot the difference here.
2. Incremental speed boost
Image courtesy of TechTastic.
The iPhone 7 is very likely to utilize an A10 chip as its processor. Recent benchmarks have shown that it’s only slightly faster than the iPhone 6S’s A9 chip, however;. More surprisingly, it’s almost identical to the A9X that powers the iPad Pro.
Many processor updates have been far better than this, such as the A6 being twice as powerful as the A5. This shift seems to be much more subtle, though. Without a significant speed boost, that means little reason for 6S owners to upgrade right now. Games will be mostly staying roughly in line with where they are now, and don’t expect a huge improvement to the screen either. There’s not much point when the processor doesn’t have that extra oomph over its predecessor.
3. Don’t believe the RAM stories
A few rumors are floating around that the iPhone 7 will have 3gb RAM, rather than the iPhone 6S’s 2gb RAM. This seems very unlikely. The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus were the first iPhones to have 2gb RAM. Switching up to 3gb RAM already seems unlikely, when the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus only had 1gb RAM. Doubling RAM is the kind of thing that happens infrequently.
The issue here? Well, plenty of Android phones have 3gb RAM if not 4gb RAM. Sure, their operating systems work entirely differently, so Apple’s should be more efficient, but for those tech fans who like to boast, the ‘inferior’ amount of RAM continues to add to the theme of this being an incremental upgrade.
4. iOS 10 will play well with many iPhones
iOS 10 is being touted as a great thing for the iPhone 7 to come with. You know what, though? iPhone 5 owners and above will be able to use it, anyhow.
The operating system is going to improve upon 3D touch, as well as redesign Control Center, but it’s still all quite incremental again. The big change comes from Siri which will be opened up to 3rd party developers, as well as QuickType which should make typing a message easier. They’re all features that earlier iPhones will have, though. This isn’t going to be something to show off about. iOS is still looking roughly the same, and dare we say it? A little tired.
Apple could be holding off something big for the launch later this year, but as of now there’s nothing pointing toward it being a must buy.
5. The iPhone 7 might just be a stopgap
Image mockup courtesy of Handy Abovergleich
2017 is the 10th anniversary of the original iPhone. We’ve got a sneaky feeling that’s going to be the time that any new iPhone is truly revolutionary. After all, why do something dramatic 9 years in, when you’re so close to the big one?
It’s fairly clear that the iPhone 7 is going to be roughly the same size, with a few tweaks to make it slightly different, but it’s far from anything spectacular. Waiting it out till 2017 could mean a OLED screen for it – something that’s often rumored for the 7 but has been far from confirmed. Rumors are already spreading that 2017’s iPhone could have an all-glass design, and no more home button;. This could be the real shift that the smartphone needs to make it exciting again.
As is always the way, if you’re in real need of a new iPhone, the 7 might still be the one for you. Those waiting it out for a serious improvement though might want to wait and see what 2017 will bring.