The iPhone 7 is expected to be revealed in early September and there's been a huge increase in hype surrounding the next generation smartphone
Apple could reveal the new iPhone in less than two months.
The tech giant usually reveals its next smartphone in early September so it can see out the end of the year on a high.
This year it will almost certainly be the iPhone 7 that's revealed and the online rumour mill is going into overdrive ahead of the announcement.
Along with comments and predictions from industry analysts and the specialised tech media, there have been several supposed leaked images.
Many show the casing or materials that are believed to be in the new smartphone.
We've gathered together all the latest news surrounding the phone into one place and will continue to update this as we learn more. For previous Apple models, here are the best iPhone deals this week.
Latest news
Apple isn't due to unveil its next iPhone for another couple of months, but the company may have already decided on its release date.The new handset will go on sale on Friday September 16, according to notorious leaker Evan Blass.
He shared the date in typically offhand style on his Twitter account, @evleaks, specifying that the date refers to the retail release, not the launch event:
Blass cited no source for the information, but his predictions have been correct more often than not in the past.
If he is right, the launch event would either take place at the start of the week commencing September 12, or a week earlier.
Meanwhile, separate leaks suggest that Apple may not call its next device the iPhone 7 at all, but opt instead for the name "iPhone 6SE".
The rumour comes from German tech news site Apfelpage , which spoke to Chinese supply chain sources who claim to have seen finished packaging and labels with the new name.
Release date
Taking Apple's release date history into account, it's likely we'll see the iPhone 7 officially revealed in September 2016.Both the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6 were revealed in September and Apple has no reason to change its strategy.
There's also nothing wrong with taking advantage of Black Friday sales and the run up to Christmas.
The iPhone 6s announcement was held on September 9, 2015 and Apple could plan a repeat performance.
Price
It's unlikely that Apple's main iPhone 7 will be any easier on the wallet than past variants.But its launch could see Apple finally change the thing that annoys people most about the iPhone.
Rumours suggest that Apple is planning to ditch its pitifully small 16GB storage option in favour of a more generous 32GB base model.
The current iPhone 6s and 6s Plus lineup offers customers a choice of 16GB, 64GB, or 128GB storage options.
However, supply chain investigations by Kevin Wang, director of market research at respected analyst firm IHS Technology, suggest the iPhone 7 base model will come with with 32GB of storage.
If true, we could expect other models with larger storage - 64GB and 128GB most likely - to stick with the £619 and £699 prices.
Impressive renders
Designer Martin Hajek has created several impressive 3D renders of what he thinks the iPhone 7 could look like.Rather than the traditional Space Grey colour, Hajek has taken the Space Black finish from the Apple Watch and applied it to the phone.
His realistic-looking renders also show how many of the iPhone 7 rumours might look if they were implemented in a finished product.
Hajek has added a pair of USB-C capable headphones in one of his shots to illustrate what that may look like.
That could be about to change as many rumours suggest next year's model may drop the iconic home button on the front of the gadget.
One artist, Marek Weidlich, has created an intriguing concept of what that might look like.
"I focused on simple design language which is very important for Apple," Weidlich said.
"I designed a curved display without a bezel, and equipped with a software home button."
Both Samsung and LG have embraced curvy screens with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and the LG G Flex 2 respectively.
It's unlikely Apple will follow suit but then the world's most valuable company has frequently had a problem with bending phones .
Apple's last two releases have been with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens. This covers a broad range and the tech giant could decide to keep things as they are.
No more antenna lines
This latest picture appears to give us our clearest view yet of what the iPhone 7 will look like.Emerging on Chinese social media, it shows a device that's very similar to the current iPhone 6s , albeit with a couple of small changes.
Secondly, the lines across the back have been removed as the antenna appears to have been moved to the corners of the device.
Sadly, it's impossible to see from the picture whether or not the headphone jack has remained in place. Its removal has been the biggest rumour surrounding the new phone and plenty of Apple fans aren't happy with the idea of losing it.
Fans have been infuriated by new which claim to show a drastic change in one of the key features of the iPhone.
End of the Home button
Pictures surfaced recently that appear to show a version of the phone with a completely blank front panel. They seem to suggest that Apple will drop its famous home key in favour of an on-screen button.Taken in China and obtained by the blog site Apple Insider , the pictures have now been widely circulated around the internet.
The shady pictures look to be taken quickly and without much thought to lighting or presentation. They show what is allegedly a new iPhone with a very different design.
On Chinese social media site Weibo, a new picture supposedly showing the back of the iPhone 7 has been doing the rounds.
Dropping the headphone socket
Pictures were obtained by the Taiwanese site Apple Club , which previously published the first schematics showing the protuding iPhone 6 camera lens, before being republished by 9to5Mac.They appear to confirm rumours that Apple is set to remove the headphone socket from the iPhone 7.
If true, this will probably mean anyone who buys the next version of Apple's iPhone will have to use wireless headphones or fork out for a pricey converter.
In January, the usual shadowy "supply chain sources" told a Chinese website that the 3.5 inch headphone jack will not be included on Apple's next mobile.
Recently, these rumours have been fuelled by images of a case for the new phone that apparently show no hole for the headphone wires.
There's no hole in the case for where a headphone socket should be - instead there are just spaces for the charging port and speakers.
Of course, there's no way of confirming the legitimacy of the case - but it serves as an interesting indicator for a potentially big design change.
Tech experts reckon that by removing the headphone socket, Apple engineers will be able to shave 1mm off the thickness of the phone.
Meanwhile an insight coming from Deutsche Bank analysts by way of Business Insider , suggests that Apple will include a special adaptor along with the iPhone 7 instead of a pair of headphones.
Alleged iPhone 7 leak shows exactly how Apple's new gadget measures up against the iPhone 6s
"A Lightning-to-audio dongle included with the iPhone 7 - not a pair of Lightning headphones," reports the tech site.
That would mean instead of plugging your headphones directly into the phone, you have to carry around an adapter with you everywhere you go. Or, use wireless headphones.
Business Insider calls Apple's strategy a "huge risk" and explains the Deutsche Bank information is from a "research note."
Specs
Likely to be boasting a processor called the A10 chip, the iPhone 7 will surely boast more power - although it's anyone's guess as to how much this will translate into actual usage.
According to Korean site ETNews , Apple is currently in discussion with arch-rival Samsung over supplying OLED screens for its next phone.
This would shift the display over from the current LED model to a much more vibrant OLED screen. Such a move would likely make for better colour reproduction for videos and games, but might hamper battery life.
Elsewhere, a leak Italian website from HDblog suggests that Apple's iPhone 7 Plus, which is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 7 this September, will feature a whopping 256GB of storage.
That's double the storage of an entry-level Macbook Air, and would make the iPhone 7 Plus Apple's most high-capacity smartphone yet.
The site shows pictures of a 256GB SanDisk NAND flash memory chip that "could be appropriate for the next generation smartphone", according to MacRumours .
However, one change could be a huge boon for Apple fans.
Camera
A photo claiming to be of the iPhone 7 Plus has surfaced on Chinese website Bastille Post , adding fuel to rumours that the smartphone will feature a dual-lens camera.The picture shows a protruding, pill-shaped enclosure - which differs from the two separate circular camera openings depicted in some other online renderings.
The advantage of a dual camera is that it could allow iPhone users to snap SLR quality photos and 3D images on a smartphone.
Last year, Apple bought an Israeli smart camera company called LinX Computational Imaging, which builds smartphone and tablet cameras with sensors that provide depths of field.
The technology also allows for high quality images to be captured in low-light conditions.
Waterproof iPhone
According to a report in the China-based Commercial Times , Apple is working on a new "compound material" that repels water for use in its forthcoming smartphone, which it is thought will be called the iPhone 7.
This new material will also reportedly remove the need for the two strips of plastic that run across the back of the current generation of iPhones to allow mobile signals to reach the antennas.
This suggests that the body of the next iPhone may not be made from metal at all, but some other kind of material that allows radio waves to pass through it.
Industrial designer Herman Haidin has taken a stab at predicting the next version of Apple's handset and reckons the American tech giant could use a material known as 'liquidmetal'.
Apple acquired a patent for liquidmetal back in 2010 and uses it to make the small SIM ejector tool that comes in each iPhone box.
The material itself is a type of alloy that's tougher and more water-resistant than typical aluminium.
In the concept, Haidin envisions the iPhone 7 as a mere 3mm thick with a body formed of glass and liquidmetal.
However, this is unlikely, given that LiFi is still in the early stages of development, and researchers don't expect it to be ready for commercial use before the end of the decade.
Source: Mirror
iPhone 7: Release date, UK price, picture leaks and the latest news about Apple's next gadget
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