The iPhone 7 is still a few months away from being officially launched, but that has not stopped rumours about the handset flying thick and fast from Apple’s surprisingly leaky supply chain.
The latest images which allegedly show the device in a disassembled state seem to suggest that of all the new parts that it is getting, the camera will make the biggest impact on its exterior design.
TechRadar reports that spy shots captured in China show that the iPhone 7 will be endowed with a camera lens which is at least twice the size of any of its predecessors.
A bigger lens means the opportunity for more light to be captured by the sensor, which in turn should give the handset the ability to take better photos when levels of ambient lighting are low.
With a higher-end camera on the cards, it is also likely that iPhone and iPad spares from earlier generations of each range will not be cross-compatible with Apple’s next flagship device. This is in keeping with its past release schedule, with a cutting-edge new mobile arriving once every two years and with a less significant iterative upgrade in between.
Sources claim that the standard iPhone 7 will come with this aforementioned camera enhancement, but that it will stick with a single lens set-up. Meanwhile, the iPhone 7 Plus will differentiate itself from its stable mates by embracing dual lenses, with this new part seemingly easier to accommodate because of the larger overall size of the device itself.
Interestingly, it seems that the dual-lens camera assembly of the iPhone 7 Plus will not benefit from the enhanced aperture and sensor sizes of its smaller sibling. So perhaps this rift in photographic capabilities between the two handsets will be enough to sway buyers’ decisions, rather than having Apple fans being influenced by screen size alone.
A third iPhone model is also rumoured to be on its way to market this year, with insiders claiming that it will be an enterprise variant which targets business users, just like the iPad Pro.
Quite what changes will be made to allow it to appeal to this part of the market remain to be seen. And since the Pro version of iPad spares include a larger display and the option of using a stylus, there could be some major shifts in functionality which go beyond those offered by camera upgrades alone.
2016 is shaping up to be the year in which Apple makes some seriously radical changes to the iPhone family. And from a purely commercial perspective, it is definitely in need of a shake-up, given that sales have been sluggish in the first half of the year.
Apple remains one of the world’s biggest and most successful companies, but its time as an unstoppable force in the smartphone market seems to be coming to an end. The iPhone 7 range will determine whether or not it can maintain its current momentum going forward.
Camera Lens
