iPhone 7 Leaks Suggest Raft Of New Features

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As the iPhone 6s breaks all smartphone release records, Apple is already turning attention toward the release of the iPhone 7. Such is the conveyor belt at a massive corporation such as Apple; the consumer electronics giant certainly doesn’t let the grass grow under its feet.

iPhone AirPods

Already there are a significant number of rumors emerging regarding the next generation Apple smartphone. And one of them is that the iPhone 7 will include unique “AirPods” that will revolutionize the way that headphones work in the Apple smartphone range.

This is an interesting development, as Apple has clearly placed more importance on music in recent years. Numerous recent moves by the California-based company have indicated that Apple wishes to be a major player in the music marketplace, with the acquisition of Beats, launch of its own music radio station, and its streaming service all indicating Apple’s overarching strategy.

AirPods would apparently deliver wireless headphones, which would represent the first major change to the way that this aspect of the iPhone series operates since the iPhone 5. This effectively boosted the number wireless speakers available on the market, due to the fact that manufactures wanted to have the opportunity to release products that would work with multiple devices and which were not tied to a particular connection.

It is thus rumored that the patent application for AirPods that has been spotted by the media could lead to Apple kickstarting a similar move in the world of headphones. MacRumors spotted the patent application, with a company called Entertainment in Flight LLC having filed it with the requisite authorities.

Holding company

This obscure name might seem like an oddity to people observing the process, but it is already being speculated that the name is likely a front company. This particular filing is the only visible operation of the so-called Entertainment in Flight LLC, and suggest that Apple is simply utilizing a technique that it has used in the past in order to keep its plans quiet. Unfortunately, due to the diligent efforts of the Apple-following media, this seems to have been to no avail.

There is a particularly obvious connection between Apple and this innovation considering that the existing crop of Apple’s earphones is called EarPods. The ‘Pod’ name is obviously associated with Apple, and it is far from inconceivable that Apple could even oppose the trademarking of a technology featuring this particular sobriquet. One wouldn’t want to take the Apple lawyers on with too much enthusiasm!

Waterproofing

Aside from this iPhone innovation, it is also being suggested that Apple will step up the waterproofing in the iPhone 7 when it is released. Water-resistance would be extremely useful for the iPhone series in practical terms, but it could also suggest increased health-related functionality. Certainly, with the next-generation Apple Watch on the horizon, Apple is expected to step up the health-tracking capabilities of its range of products in the foreseeable future.

It is possible that Apple has already been working on the waterproof capabilities of the iPhone range. A recent YouTube video posted by Zach Straley indicates that both the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are already significantly waterproof, despite the fact that Apple certainly did not promote this as a characteristic of the smartphone range.

With the tie-in between the Apple Watch second generation and the iPhone 6s likely to be emphasized in 2016, a waterproof iPhone 7 would be particularly useful for Apple. It would then be possible for the consumer electronics giant to outline the value of the iPhone 6s for swimmers, operating in conjunction with the existing Apple Watch smartwatch.

Curved, foldable displays

In other interesting news related to the iPhone 7, Apple has reportedly filed another intriguing item in recent weeks. According to reports, Apple filed a patent for curved and flexible displays back in 2013, although these obviously haven’t come to fruition as of yet. But a new trademark in this region suggests that Apple will produce a revolutionary and innovative display in the foreseeable future.

The new patent includes what is described as a “glass wraparound design”, also known as a “foldable design”. It is intriguing that Apple is experimenting with this technology, as this form of screen was linked with the Samsung Galaxy range recently. It is notable that Apple believes it can achieve this foldable design without increasing the size of the screen, and the technology will achieve an effect whereby content appears as if it is flowing freely across the device. Effectively, the iPhone seven content may appeared to be in a continuous loop.

It is also suggested that the technology giant will be able to manufacture the iPhone 7 to include a blast exterior by utilizing liquid metal materials. The move to 3D Touch could be particularly important in this department, as Apple could then replace some of the traditional buttons in the iPhone series with units sensitive to the new touch-based technology system.

Apple has also included a patent specific to gesture logins, suggesting that it will begin to phase out some of the traditional buttons utilized in the iPhone series. This innovation will enable users to log onto the iPhone 7 by utilizing gestures, instead of relying on the traditional alpha-numeric passcodes or biometric ones. Naturally this new gesture-based technology will also be compatible with the Touch ID fingerprint scanner.

iPhone 7c coming?

Finally, leaks in the last week have suggested that Apple will release the long awaited 4-inch smartphone when the iPhone 7 reaches market. It seems that Apple may have accidentally leaked the existence of this device on its own website, which suggests that Apple is potentially readying three iPhone 7 releases for next year.

It could be a massive yet for smartphones with the iPhone 7 potentially a massive departure from previous devices in the series, and with increased specs possibly including 4K resolution, this will certainly be an iPhone release worth waiting for.

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