Two separate reports today have given further credibility to already circulating rumors that, while this year’s iPhones will be little changed in design from the iPhone 6S series, a much more significant revamp is in line for 2017’s handsets – which could actually take the iPhone 7 name…
Earlier today, The Wall Street Journal claimed, citing “people familiar with the matter”, that this year’s iPhones will come with only “subtle changes”; we can expect, for example, the current 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screen sizes to stay, while the most significant external difference will be the absence of a 3.5mm headphone jack, as already widely reported elsewhere.
Fresher details, however, come from VentureBeat – which claims to have received an anonymous tip with much of the same information as the Journal‘s report, albeit three days before its publication. It is said that this tip is impossible to verify, having been sent via an email anonymization service, but includes some tantalizing details about the iPhone’s future…
These include that future iPhones will, as per a previous rumor, shift from a two-year to a three-year cycle – and that Apple is saving the iPhone 7 name for 2017’s handset with “most likely” a glass back. Hence, the 2016 models will “very likely be named using another riff on iPhone 6”.