What’s In Store For The New iPhone?

The upcoming release of the iPhone 7 has carried all the usual hush-hush speculation and squashed rumors, but so far, this iteration of the popular mobile device looks to be one of the most truly “changed” versions yet. While it was still carry its none-too-tiny Apple product price tag, some big upgrades have already been predicted.

Probably the first change that the average, everyday consumer will notice is the rumored lack of a headphone port. This is already being called a blessing and a curse by some sources. While the thinking is that the phone will come with either headphones that connect via the lightning port or Bluetooth “AirPod” ear buds (smaller than many hearing aids), it does mean you won’t be using your expensive Beats headphones. However, there are some rumors that the phone with possibly include a lightning-port-to-headphone-jack converter; sadly, everything that’s good about switching to the lightning port, namely its better sound quality, just went out the window when you add a small converter cable to the mix.

This design feature has been speculated due to leaked images from the factory, but one of the more telling aspects that supports it is Square Reader’s rollout of a Bluetooth version of its product. The company has an entire line of gadgets for small retailers who can’t afford a major cash register system, or who take credit card payments on the go for their services. Square launched its new product quite some time ago, possibly ahead of the rush to lose the headphone jack.

As for the software that powers the new device, CNET had some very interesting clues for what users will love in iOS 10. The most exciting may be the third-party integration with Siri, meaning developers will finally be able to incorporate Siri into their own products’ functionality. That would be a huge step forward in competing with some other VA giants. Other than that, typical users will be thrilled to finally be able to delete some of the pre-installed proprietary apps that they don’t plan to use, rather than hiding all of those unwanted apps in a folder on their home screens. Finally, the new map upgrades mean easier navigation and less likelihood of being taken to the geographic center of a town if the map can’t pinpoint exactly where you want to go.

As always, Apple has a few tricks up their sleeves that won’t be revealed until the device actually hits the market, but so far the rumors mean this may be the most useful device launch in terms of actual changes the company has produced in a while.