Apple iPhone 7-6 SE: Ming-Chi Kuo leaked last minute information about the next iPhone

Only a few days left to go before the official launch and thanks to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo we now know almost everything there is about the next iPhone generation. Not only did Ming-Chi reaffirm much of what we already knew, he added a couple of missing facts in his latest research report about Apple's next iPhone, which he indeed called the iPhone 7. There was a slight chance, Apple might have used the iPhone 6 moniker for yet another year due to the design of the next iPhone resembling that of previous generations but obviously Apple decided against doing so, maybe to avoid confusion among customers.

CPU, RAM and memory

The A10, Apple's next generation mobile silicon in the iPhone 7 will be produced exlusively by TSMC and could top out at 2,45 Ghz, way more than the 1,85 Ghz of last year's A9 chip. However, Ming-Chi Kuo mentioned, that Apple could  decide to clock it lower to save on energy and heat dissipation. The 5,5 inch iPhone 7 Plus will include 3 GB of RAM due to the requirements of the dual-camera-system (see below). The standard iPhone 7 will include 2 GB of RAM like last years iPhone 6s. Finally, the 16 GB version is history, Apple will ditch it and give you a minimum of 32 GB of memory. Also gone is the 64 GB version, there will be 32 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB versions.

Design, audio and display

There won't be a radical new design this year, the next iPhone will still look like last years model, except for the missing headphone jack and the changed antenna lines. Also display resolution and size will remain the same for another year according to KGI. However, the displays will be updated to include better color reproduction, Apple might borrow the display technology from its 9,7 inch iPad Pro. Each iPhone 7 will come with a Lightning-to-3,5 mm-jack-adapter and Lightning earpods in the box. The earpiece on the upper front will become a second speaker, driven by a new power amplifier, that will improve sound quality and enable stereo audio. Also, iPhone 7 will improve on its waterproof abilities and be officially waterproof with an IPX7 rating, similar to the Apple Watch. That means you can put it under 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes.

Force Touch, Home Button and sensors

Apple decided to change the Home Button and make it click-less. Instead, Force Touch will give haptic feedback. In addition, Force Touch will be improved thanks to a new sensor on the bottom of the device. The new Home Button supposedly improves water resistance. A new proximity sensor now uses Laser instead of LED for a faster response time and better distance recognition. It could also allow for future hand gesture recognition. Japanese iPhone-models will support FeliCa-NFC.

Color options and cameras

According to KGI, the iPhone 7-series will be available in five color options: Apart from the usual silver, gold and rose gold options, the space grey version was replaced with two dark options: "dark black" and glossy "piano black". The latter might be limited to large-storage-models initially. The biggest change this year will be the addition of a second camera in the iPhone 7 Plus:

Both cameras on the back of the iPhone 7 Plus will be 12 MP lenses, one will be wide-angle, with larger pixels, a 6P-lens and integrated optical image stabilization (OIS). The second one will be a smaller pixel, 5P-telephoto lens. The dual-camera-system will allow for better zoom and "light field camera applications", enabling you to change focus after a shot was already made. Apple apparently also improved on the True Tone flash, adding two more LEDs for a total of 4 LEDs.

Forecast

Due to "limited innovative selling points", KGI Securities forecasts a total of 60 to 65 sold units by the end of this year. That's down from the 82 million units sold last year. The dual-camera-system will also increase production cost of the plus-model by 40 US-dollar per unit. The analyst expects customers to concentrate on four major changes compared to the previous generation: the black color option, the dual camera, official water resistance and the missing headphone jack. Apple will officially introduce the next iPhone on September 7th this coming week, together with an updated Apple Watch.

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