Not surprisingly, the iPhone 7, as well the iPhone 7 Plus, on release date will be a huge departure from the iPhone 6S, internally and externally. A new look is to be expected and a new report indicates that the innards of the next iPhone will be nothing short of impressive.
New look, A9 chip and 3GB RAM
Among the headline features mentioned in the latest research note issue by KGI Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo are the next-gen A10 processing chip and a minimum 3GB of RAM. The latter is likely reserved for the phablet-size iPhone 7 Plus, Kuo told Apple Insider, indicating too that the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 will have up to 2GB of RAM like the 6S did when it was unboxed September this year.
The report also discussed the likelihood of the iPhone 7 rocking a totally new look, which analysts said is not remote as Apple normally jumps into a different design template following an S release, which the iPhone 6S is. Tech Times said in a related report that Piper Jaffray is forecasting an overhaul of the next iPhone build and design that will be centered on upcoming enhancements that Apple will pack with the new 3D Touch technology.
As a direct result, the iPhone next year is likely to ditch the iconic physical Home button with the Touch ID to be relocated elsewhere in the display panel or the device, Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray reported.
Support for Apple Pencil
Another rumored feature for the next iPhone is stylus support, a speculation that has been around even before the iPhone 5S introduction or as early as Samsung resurrected the input technology with the original phablet Galaxy Note.
But for the iPhone 7, stylus has a higher chance of becoming part of the system as iDigitalTimes reported that the smartphone will simply make use of an existing product - the Apple Pencil that was unpacked with the iPad Pro. What is distinct on the stylus use on the iPhone 7 is it will be 3D Touch-optimized, meaning the next iPhone will make better use of the Force Touch or multi-layered screen input that Apple had introduced with the latest iPhone model.
4-inch iPhone 6C with premium finish in early 2016
Kuo said that Apple is not expected to deviate from its usual product release cycle, forecasting in his note that the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus release date is likely to happen September next year. But not before the rollout of the metal-clad, 4-inch and said to be relatively cheaper iPhone 6C (powered by A9 chip) that the KGI analyst said is already in the works and will be outed anytime in the second half of 2016 or earlier.