According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple’s predictable cycle of overhauling its iPhone design every two years is set to end, with this fall’s models only coming with “subtle changes”, says sources:
Apple Inc. plans to break with its recent pattern of overhauling the design of its flagship iPhone every two years and make only subtle changes in the models it will release this fall, according to people familiar with the matter.
These sources say display sizes will remain the same at 4.7 and 5.5-inches, but the “biggest planned change” is the elimination of the 3.5 mm headphone jack, a move said to help make the phone more water resistant and thinner. The Lightning connector will take on headphone duty and also act as a charging port, say sources.
Bigger changes to the iPhone are planned for the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, set for 2017, with sources saying an edge-to-edge OLED display could be on the way:
Apple plans bigger design changes for 2017, the 10th anniversary of the original iPhone. Those changes could include an edge-to-edge organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, screen and eliminating the home button by building the fingerprint sensor into the display, according to people familiar with the matter.
“People familiar with the matter” say Apple’s Chief Design Officer, Jony Ive, has wanted the iPhone to look “like a single sheet of glass”, for years.
Why will this year’s iPhone lack major design changes? One source, who was part of a meeting with an Apple executive last month in China, said it was because new technology coming “will take time to implement.”
Sources say curved screens, which Apple wanted to implement into its iPhones, were not ready for 2016 models.
For the upcoming iPhone refresh, the biggest speculation right now is whether the 3.5mm headphone jack will stay or go. Supposedly leaked images posted yesterday claimed the legacy port would remain. Another report said Apple would still ship 3.5mm EarPods with the next iPhone, along with a Lightning adapter, to accommodate for the lack of headphone jack.
There are so many different rumours about what’s coming for this year’s iPhone. If the next design is not an overhaul, let’s hope there are going to be some super cool features worth upgrading for (regardless, #takemymoney). As for that tenth anniversary iPhone, the anticipation being built up is it’s going to be a doozy.
