Apple iphone7

Apple at a glance

Apple's iPhone 7 is expected to launch in 2016, bringing a new design and new features.

Apple won't release its next-generation iPhone until the fall of 2016, so there are still months of development ahead. For the current time, Apple's flagship iPhone's are the iphone 6s and iphone 6s plus, released to the public in September of 2015.

Though it will be several months before the new iPhone 7 launches, rumors about the device started trickling out in January of 2016. 

Apple's WWDC 2016 conference has now concluded and we have final details about the company’s major software updates for 2016: iOS 10, mac OS, tvOS and watch OS 3. The former of which will ship aboard Apple’s upcoming iPhone 7 handsets and you can expect to see these announced in September.

No hardware was announced at WWDC, however, and this was slightly disappointing. Many reports suggested Apple would release a Sonos-style Siri Speaker that would be able to answer questions, perform basic tasks and, of course, stream music and media around the home. This did not happen, obviously. But Apple did confirm that Siri is now open to developers and this in itself is rather significant. Siri is pretty terrible at present but should vastly improve in the coming months as developer’s get unparalleled access to her insides. Expect new features, new capabilities and new apps with Siri front and centre in the coming weeks and months.

"In iOS 10," said Apple at launch, "Siri can be extended into major new areas and do more than ever by working with the apps you love to use. For the first time, developers can build on the intelligence Siri offers and let users interact directly with apps using just their voice. SiriKit helps developers easily design their apps to work with Siri for messaging, phone calls, photo search, ride booking, personal payments and workouts, or use Siri to control CarPlay apps, access climate controls or adjust radio settings within automakers’ apps."

Apple’s iOS 10 platform also looks to be a very solid update as well, bringing tons of new features, tweaks and updates to iPhone and iPad. But now that WWDC 2016 is over all eyes are focusing on one thing and one thing only: the iPhone 7.There are A LOT of questions surrounding Apple’s upcoming iPhones. Most of which concern whether or not the company will change the industrial design of the phones, after multiple reports suggested the handsets would more or less look like the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.Is Apple switching to a three year design cycle? Next year’s iPhone will be the 10th anniversary, so that’d be a good time to do something special, however, not changing anything this year could do the company’s sales figures damage. I don’t think Apple could get away with rehashing the iPhone 6’s design again — three years is REALLY pushing it. Even by Apple standards.The one rumour I REALLY hope isn’t true, though, is the one that concerns the iPhone’s headphone jack — or lack thereof. The logic behind my reasoning here is pretty solid too: it’s a stupid, unnecessary move, it won’t add any real benefit from a user perspective, and, as The Verge rightly points out it will pave the way for 100% DRM audio across the board. And, yes, that is bad for EVERYONE unless you happen to own a multinational record company.

iOS 10 - the next big thing

Apple has now taken the wraps of iOS 10. The new platform features a host of new features that are designed to make using and abusing your iPhone and iPad all the more easier.

Two fundamental components of iOS have been redesigned: the lock screen and the home screen. The idea here, FINALLY, is to give users better and faster access to information with minimal fuss through the use of widgets, which are essentially live tiles, and are access using 3D Touch.

There’s a lot to get stuck into and we’ll be going into more detail in a separate piece of iOS 10 tomorrow. But for now, these are the biggest and best new features announced inside iOS 10 in no particular order:

1. Raise To Wake — as the name suggests, this feature unlocks the iPhone’s display when you pick it up. The screen will automatically switch on and from here you will be able to see lock screen notifications and widgets with live information.
2. Universal Clipboard — this one is AWESOME. Basically, if you copy a piece of text or an image or a link on your iPhone to the Universal Clipboard it’ll be available on ALL your Apple devices.
3. Automatic App Download — pretty simple this one; when you download an application on your iPhone, it will automatically install on your iPad and Apple TV machine. Could get annoying, especially if you have limited space on your iPhone or iPad, but you will no doubt be able to turn this off in settings.
4. Photos App — Apple is using AI, which is local to your iPhone, to make your Photos app a more interesting and engaging place to view past memories. In the new Photos app, photos of significance, say, a trip to France with friends, will be linked together in a cluster.
5. Photos can than automatically stitch photos together to create photo reels of your memories, sort like what HTC has been doing for YEARS with its Zoe application. This new feature is called Memories and if you’re anything like me is likely something you will NEVER use — but, hey, at least you got the option to, right?
6. Apple Maps — The controversial navigation app has been resigned and is now more accurate, useful and proactive. The new UX is cleaner and now includes support for traffic updates. When used in conjunction with Carplay, Maps will send turn by turn navigation right to your car’s instrument panel. Apple is also opening up Maps to developers as well, so expect lots of new functionality in the coming weeks and months.
7. Phone app — new features here include the ability to take voicemail transcriptions, so you can see what messages have been left without listening to them. The new Phone app also has a spam filter, so no more pesky sales calls about whether or not you were in an accident or may or may not be able to make a PPI claim.
8. Apple Music & News — Apple has redesigned both applications from the ground up, no doubt after both were heavily criticised shortly after launch last year. Eddie Cue said Apple Music has been redesigned to make “music King” which, I think, is marketing spiel for a nicer, easier to use design.

The Headphone Jack is DEFINITELY Gone Though

The same reports says the new Home button will sit completely flush to the handset’s chassis. Also, there will be no headphone jack, as previously reported, and the handset will be thinner as a result. Beyond this Apple is thought to be looking at making the handset water-proof, but that’s about it for physical changes. All the big design updates are apparently reserved for 2017’s 10th anniversary iPhone release.