AppleInsider Staff
Yet another leaked "iPhone 7" part suggests that Apple will use the space previously occupied by the 3.5-millimeter headphone jack to feature a symmetrical speaker design at the bottom of the device.
Photos of an alleged "iPhone 7" gold chassis were published this week by Nowhereelse.fr, showing yet another component without a legacy headphone jack. In its place to the left of the Lightning port, the part appears to show a series of six holes for a speaker, matching the six holes on the right side.
In the current iPhone 6s design, just one identically-sized opening is found to the left of the Lightning port, serving as the microphone input.
If the newly leaked chassis is legitimate, it's likely that one of the six holes could serve as a microphone input, with the remaining five offering louder sound with additional speaker outputs. Or, perhaps all six holes on the left side could be a microphone input. Either way, the matching six holes on each side allow for a symmetrical appearance.
Two holes closer to the Lightning port likely serve as screws for disassembling the device, as they have with past models.
In another photo, the chassis shows a hole for a single camera lens, along with the traditional accompanying rear microphone and camera flash.
The camera hole also appears to be protruding, with the metal itself around the hole raised. That would be a tweak from the current iPhone 6s design, where the metal is flat but the lens itself protrudes.
If the part is authentic and previous leaks prove accurate, it's likely that the chassis is from Apple's forthcoming 4.7-inch iPhone update. It's believed that a new dual-lens design, along with 3 gigabytes of RAM for image processing, will be exclusive to the larger 5.5-inch Plus model.
All is expected to be revealed in September, when Apple is likely to hold a media event to announce its next-generation iPhone.
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
59 Comments
That camera design looks much better than the last leak.
Camera bump 4life.
I take pictures of my kids with this camera. These pictures are priceless. I don't care what Apple has to do to the design of the iPhone to keep making the camera great...the photos are what matters. Not the frigging metal brick.
Is it just me or does the lightning port look crooked (left side higher than right) and the left holes are bigger than the ones on the right? Sure looks like a fake to me.
Frankly, I think the current stainless ring around the lens of the camera is better, if we have to have something stick out. The stainless ring is going to be less apt to be damaged than a thin formed piece of aluminum as shown above and on the Plus sized double lens version.
Disappointing if true, The headphone jack is one of the most important features to me.... Way more important than the camera... I use it hours every day in multiple locations, connected to different devices (car stereo, large quality headphones I keep at work, small ear buds I use for working out, and multiple home stereos depending on what room I am in).
No other audio interface will suffice, I am not willing to sacrifice the quality & convenience of a traditional headphone jack, I am not willing to spend hundreds of dollars to buy several dongles or spend hundreds of dollars to change my audio equipment, And I am not willing to carry a dongle with me at all times.
Its a simple, ubiquitous, quality, standard, with no peer. Its not like the floppy disk, its not like fire wire.
So if these rumors are, true my next phone will be an android.