Rumor again claims Apple's 'iPhone 7' will ditch headphone jack for Lightning EarPods, sport Smart

Posted:
in iPhone edited April 2016
The design for the next-generation "iPhone 7" may have already leaked, a new report claims, adding new details about Bluetooth EarPods that will allegedly pair and charge through the Lightning port.


The device bears a striking resemblance to Futurama's Bender.


A spy shot claiming to show the rear case of the "iPhone 7" first leaked online a month ago. On Wednesday, Japanese blog Macotakara chimed in, claiming that the case is the "real thing," and was assembled by Apple manufacturing partner Catcher Technology.

Perhaps most interesting -- and puzzling -- is that the rear case shows three dots at the bottom of the handset, suggesting Apple may bring its Smart Connector port to the next iPhone. The Smart Connector debuted last year on the iPad Pro, and to date has been used solely for keyboard accessories.

It also features a dual camera module in the upper left, surrounded by a small rise in the material. If accurate, that would debunk rumors that Apple plans to ditch the rear camera bump with its next phone.

Macotakara also reaffirmed earlier reports that the "iPhone 7" will ditch the legacy 3.5-millimeter headphone jack. The site claims that Apple is working on a new pair of Bluetooth EarPods that will pair and charge through the Lightning port, just like the Apple Pencil does with the iPad Pro.

Rumors have suggested Apple will sell truly wireless Bluetooth earbuds, with separate left and right pieces, alongside the next iPhone. In the box, the "iPhone 7" is rumored to come with a wired pair of EarPods that will connect via Lightning.

The report also said that the next iPhone will feature two mysterious sensors at the top of the device, though their purpose is unknown. It's possible that Apple could bring its True Tone display technology from the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, which also relies on a pair of sensors to automatically adjust colors based on ambient light.

Finally, it was said that the "iPhone 7" and "iPhone 7 Plus" will be identical in size to their iPhone 6s series counterparts. That would suggest Appel has no intention to reduce the space located around the 4.7- and 5.5-inch displays.

Apple is expected to launch its next-generation iPhone in September, its usual annual timeframe. It's likely to start at the same $649 starting price as Apple's current flagship handset, the iPhone 6s.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 40
    virtuavirtua Posts: 209member
    Sounds plau. But if it had an apple connector wouldn't it go on the landscape, not portrait?
    *plausable
  • Reply 2 of 40
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    Most high-end phones have camera bumps. Why is it only Apple that gets shit for this?

    The new HTC phone doesn't have a flush camera. Neither does the new Samsung or LG phones.

    And even phones that do like the new Huawei phone I certainly wouldn't call it elegant looking.


    image image

    Seems to me camera quality is more important than whether the phone has a small camera bump or not.

    edited April 2016 icoco3patchythepiratenolamacguycali
  • Reply 3 of 40
    I couldn't care less about the bump on my 6s+. I love the phone and the camera.

    I'm also excited about the Apple wireless earbuds being totally wireless. I currently have the Powerbeats Wireless2 earphones and like them a lot. But the wire connecting earpieces can be a bit of a pain.

    That possible smart connector is also intriguing, as it would be nice to be able to connect a keyboard at times.
  • Reply 4 of 40
    I say ditch the headphone jack AND the lightning port and just have a smart connector at the bottom of the phone. Would make it easier to waterproof and easier for Apple to make a thinner phone. Though I think the phone is thin enough.
  • Reply 5 of 40
    thrangthrang Posts: 1,008member
    I say ditch the headphone jack AND the lightning port and just have a smart connector at the bottom of the phone. Would make it easier to waterproof and easier for Apple to make a thinner phone. Though I think the phone is thin enough.
    This clearly is the direction, but too early to do that yet. They've planted the seed for sure however... The smart connector also opens up the devices to new types of indirect charging....
    edited April 2016
  • Reply 6 of 40
    knowitallknowitall Posts: 1,648member
    When true, very ugly.
    No headphone jacket ... wow.
  • Reply 7 of 40
    Bad Photoshop - you can see the patching in the pixelation!
    cali
  • Reply 8 of 40
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    Most high-end phones have camera bumps. Why is it only Apple that gets shit for this?

    The new HTC phone doesn't have a flush camera. Neither does the new Samsung or LG phones.

    And even phones that do like the new Huawei phone I certainly wouldn't call it elegant looking.


    image image

    Seems to me camera quality is more important than whether the phone has a small camera bump or not.

    gee, those pill-shaped duo-tone flashes look familiar....where did we see that feature? oh yeah, iPhone. does everybody do them now?
    edited April 2016
  • Reply 9 of 40
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    I guess I'll be buying an ugly dongle. I'm certainly not planning to replace my expensive noise cancelation headphones.
    cali
  • Reply 10 of 40
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    I say ditch the headphone jack AND the lightning port and just have a smart connector at the bottom of the phone. Would make it easier to waterproof and easier for Apple to make a thinner phone. Though I think the phone is thin enough.
    I'd say that too if wireless data transfer were faster and more reliable. For now, I'm really looking toward the Lightning 2 connector being included to speed backups and restores. But give them a couple of years.
    cali
  • Reply 11 of 40
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Most high-end phones have camera bumps. Why is it only Apple that gets shit for this?

    The new HTC phone doesn't have a flush camera. Neither does the new Samsung or LG phones.

    And even phones that do like the new Huawei phone I certainly wouldn't call it elegant looking.


    image image

    Seems to me camera quality is more important than whether the phone has a small camera bump or not.

    gee, those pill-shaped duo-tone flashes look familiar....where did we see that feature? oh yeah, iPhone. does everybody do them now?
    Also two cameras, which the next iPhone seems likely to have.
  • Reply 12 of 40
    volcan said:
    I guess I'll be buying an ugly dongle. I'm certainly not planning to replace my expensive noise cancelation headphones.
    I don't want a stupid dongle for my phone - it's not like a laptop accessory which you bring around in a bag - I'll never have it with me and I don't want to buy 10 of them for every jack in my house!. Also who wants to deal with charging their headphones - I use my once a month tops - which means I'm never gonna find them charged.

    If true, this is a gave grave mistake by apple. I'm not upgrading for as long as I can hold out over this. I think it will cost them tons of sales.
    cnocbui
  • Reply 13 of 40
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    volcan said:
    I guess I'll be buying an ugly dongle. I'm certainly not planning to replace my expensive noise cancelation headphones.

    You bring up an interesting point that was discussed on MacBreak Weekly when the headphone jack rumors first started. How angry and pissed off about this would an Apple user have to be to actually switch platforms? The same thing happened when the 30 pin connector was replaced by the lighting port, when the DVD superdrive was removed from the iMac. The outrage and venom was all over the spectrum but how many actually followed through? It's one thing to anonymously vent your rage on a web forum, swear on a stack of bibles you will switch to Android. It's another thing all together to actually do it. Apple hasn't been seriously damaged by any of the decisions it made that 'outraged' a certain cadre of users. Talk is cheap but it costs money to do something about that talk.
    edited April 2016 ai46
  • Reply 14 of 40
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    lkrupp said:

    You bring up an interesting point that was discussed on MacBreak Weekly when the headphone jack rumors first started. How angry and pissed off about this would an Apple user have to be to actually switch platforms? The same thing happened when the 30 pin connector was replaced by the lighting port, when the DVD superdrive was removed from the iMac. The outrage and venom was all over the spectrum but how many actually followed through? It's one thing to anonymously vent your rage on a web forum, swear on a sick of bibles you will switch to Android. It's another thing all together to actually do it. Apple hasn't been seriously damaged by any of the decisions it made that 'outraged' a certain cadre of users. Talk is cheap but it costs money to do something about that talk.
    I understand why they are ditching it. Analog sound quality is inferior to digital audio. Some high end headphones have USB HD audio but to use that on an iPhone you would still need a dongle.
  • Reply 15 of 40
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    lkrupp said:
    volcan said:
    I guess I'll be buying an ugly dongle. I'm certainly not planning to replace my expensive noise cancelation headphones.

    You bring up an interesting point that was discussed on MacBreak Weekly when the headphone jack rumors first started. How angry and pissed off about this would an Apple user have to be to actually switch platforms? The same thing happened when the 30 pin connector was replaced by the lighting port, when the DVD superdrive was removed from the iMac. The outrage and venom was all over the spectrum but how many actually followed through? It's one thing to anonymously vent your rage on a web forum, swear on a sick of bibles you will switch to Android. It's another thing all together to actually do it. Apple hasn't been seriously damaged by any of the decisions it made that 'outraged' a certain cadre of users. Talk is cheap but it costs money to do something about that talk.
    And then notice how absolutely superior to the 30-pin connector the Lightning seems now. Also, I'm covinced that David Pogue lost his credibility over the fit he threw over the change.
  • Reply 16 of 40
    19831983 Posts: 1,225member
    About the rumoured Bluetooth EarPods which are completely separate from each other and charge from within the carry case. About a month or so ago I read a hands on quick review (with photos) over at What HiFi, of an upcoming Onkyo Bluetooth earbud model that fits this description exactly! In fact its so near identical in design to these rumoured wireless EarPods...including that charger/carry case. That I'm starting to wonder if Apple's isn't just a badge engineered version of the Onkyo device. Which doesn't make much sense as Apple doesn't usually badge engineer products by other companies and already owns a headphone manufacturer - Beats...puzzling?
    edited April 2016
  • Reply 17 of 40
    It's hard to imagine them eliminating the traditional headphone jack since they consistently trumpet how music is such a core part of Apple's DNA but I suppose anything is possible.

    My two cents on how they could get away with it without alienating their fanbase is to make an adapter for lightning to 3.5mm or if they really wanted to impress, I think the smartest thing to do (and I can hardly can imagine if this is feasible from a technical standpoint but hey, it's Apple) to create the least amount of backlash for removing the port would be smart connector to 3.5mm jack. If that were the case, I'd actually welcome the change: a magnetic connection for headphones and you could still use any legacy headphones you want. It would essentially be magsafe (wildly popular tech) for headphones. Awesome. And magnetic connection for headphones to me makes WAY more sense than docking an iPhone to a keyboard.
    applesidewinder
  • Reply 18 of 40
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,311member
    flaneur said:
    lkrupp said:

    You bring up an interesting point that was discussed on MacBreak Weekly when the headphone jack rumors first started. How angry and pissed off about this would an Apple user have to be to actually switch platforms? The same thing happened when the 30 pin connector was replaced by the lighting port, when the DVD superdrive was removed from the iMac. The outrage and venom was all over the spectrum but how many actually followed through? It's one thing to anonymously vent your rage on a web forum, swear on a sick of bibles you will switch to Android. It's another thing all together to actually do it. Apple hasn't been seriously damaged by any of the decisions it made that 'outraged' a certain cadre of users. Talk is cheap but it costs money to do something about that talk.
    And then notice how absolutely superior to the 30-pin connector the Lightning seems now. Also, I'm covinced that David Pogue lost his credibility over the fit he threw over the change.
    I don't think the lightning port is superior. They both have their pro's and con's.  The lightning perks is its smaller and you can plug it in rather direction.  The 30 pin had support for things like analog audio in and out which can be a big plus.  You don't have that with a completely digital plug.  There's no reason why the 30-pin couldn't Support  USB 3 for example.  It would look a little dorky to have the 30-pin on top of the Apple pencil.
    1983cali
  • Reply 19 of 40
    1983 said:
    About the rumoured Bluetooth EarPods which are completely separate from each other and charge from within the carry case. About a month or so ago I read a hands on quick review (with photos) over at What HiFi, of an upcoming Onkyo Bluetooth earbud model that fits this description exactly! In fact its so near identical in design to these rumoured wireless EarPods...including that charger/carry case. That I'm starting to wonder if Apple's isn't just a badge engineered version of the Onkyo device. Which doesn't make much sense as Apple doesn't usually badge engineer products by other companies and already owns a headphone manufacturer - Beats...puzzling?
    Have you seen these?

    http://www.bragi.com
  • Reply 20 of 40
    xbitxbit Posts: 390member
    Fingers crossed that Apple makes some headphones that stay in your ear and don't leak sound like crazy on their 200th attempt.
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