The next iPhone is now just a few months away, and rumours have started to reach a fever pitch. Here are three of the biggest new stories, as Apple mulls a move to 32GB of storage as standard, analysts suggest a new three-year design cycle and the first Lightning to 3.5mm dongles hit the ‘net.
Finally, 16GB iPhones are no more
The original iPhone came with 4, 8 or 16GB of internal storage in 2008. With the iPhone 5, Apple moved to 16GB as their baseline storage option. Four years later, every Android flagship is at 32GB, but the entry-level iPhone remains at 16GB. That may finally be set to change with the iPhone 7, as an IHS Technology analyst has reported that the next iPhone will move to a 32GB base model.
With the advent of 4K video recording, ever-larger apps and rapid LTE speeds, a move to 32GB definitely makes sense, even if it cuts into Apple’s ability to upsell customers to the 64GB model. What’s less clear is how the full lineup of storage options will look. Apple could just replace the entry-level iPhone with a 32GB model, or they could improve the entire lineup — what about 32GB / 128GB / 256GB choice for the iPhone 7?
3.5mm is dead, long live 3.5mm
It looks increasingly likely that the iPhone 7 will drop the much-loved 3.5mm headphone connector, with users left with Bluetooth and Lightning headphones as the remaining easy options. Of course, there will always be adapters, and Chinese firms are already advertising their wares.
The adapters shown above are likely to be typical, with a Lightning connector on one end, a Lightning passthrough port, a 3.5mm output and some buttons to adjust the volume. Insider, the adapters will need a DAC (digital to analogue converter), and better DACs will result in a noticeably better sound. That’ll make choosing a good Lightning to 3.5mm adapter pretty important.
Tick, tick, tock
Tick-Tock isn’t just a Kesha song. In the computing world, it also describes Intel’s legendary processor release cadence: every year or so, optimise a current design (tick) or release a new design (tock). This schedule also fit Apple perfectly, with new numbers indicating a new design, and the ‘S’ meaning an upgraded version of the existing design. This year, things are different for both companies, as they move to a three-phase cycle (which doesn’t have a snappy name or a Kesha song named after it).
That means the next iPhone may be called the iPhone 7, but it won’t really be a new design. Instead, it’ll be another year of upgrades and optimisation, just a few tweaks, camera upgrades and internal improvements. We’ve already heard that there won’t be a new design for the iPhone 7, and now Japanese periodical Nikkei confirms this isn’t just a blip; a three year cycle is the plan going forward. That means the next properly new iPhone will arrive 2018 — can you wait that long?
Wrapping up
So there we have it — no big new iPhone this year, just one that comes with 32GB of storage as standard and maybe forces you to buy a 3.5mm adapter for your headphones. What do you think of the news? Let us know in the comments.