Entire livelihoods are built on speculating, often years before they come out, what the features of the next device released by Apple might be.
In a way, it’s no surprise that people are so interested. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently announced that the company passed one billion iPhone sales and the company has in the recent past been one of the most profitable and valuable companies in human history.
The Apple event every September is a firm fixture of the tech calendar, and the annual cranking up of the rumour mill in the preceding weeks is fast becoming one as well.
Here are some of the biggest rumours about what the new device will look like.
1. It’s not the iPhone 7
In general, Apple tends to launch new generations of the iPhone every two years, with the iPhone 6S appearing in September 2015.
This means that the launch of the iPhone 7 is due for this September.
However, German tech news site Apfelpage has reported rumours suggesting that it may be called the iPhone SE instead.
2. It won’t have a standard headphone jack
The rumours of the new iPhone lacking a headphone jack have been around for a while. The circular headphone port which is featured on the majority of devices is relatively space-consuming and removing it would allow Apple to slim down the device still further.
This leaves two possibilities for getting the music from the device to the listener’s ears. One would be wireless headphones, using Bluetooth technology to remove the need for cumbersome wires.
The other theory which is gathering momentum is that the headphone cord will use Apple’s bespoke charger slot, which is thinner and hence could allow Apple to slim down the devices or use the space for other features such as a second speaker.
3. The launch event will be in September
Of course, it is no surprise that the launch event is taking place in September, but Venturebeat.com reporter Evan Blass has gone one further and said that pre-orders will be available from 9 September.
Blass said that the device will be available on the week of 12 September.
Since last year the device was available for pre-order three days after the event, this would give a date for the launch event of 6 or 7 September
4. The home button will be pressure-sensitive
Apple originally introduced what was then called Force Touch on the Apple Watch, launched in June 2015, as well as recent models of the MacBook Pro.
Apple included the renamed 3D Touch on the iPhone 6S launched in September 2015.
It expands the range of interactions available with an app, allowing the user to vary the level of force applied to the touch-screen to generate different functions.
Bloomberg reported that the home button on the new device will use this sort of pressure-sensitive input rather than be a physical key that has to be pressed into the phone.
5. Users won’t have to swipe to unlock
The new phones should run with iOS 10, the next version of Apple’s proprietary operating system.
Beta versions of the new version are already available. Stand-out points include the removal of the swipe to unlock feature and its replacement with pressing the home button to unlock.
In addition, the lock screen notifications have been upgraded, with new users now able to interact with them in more detail. Users can also clear all notifications.
