I'd be happy with a solid camera upgrade. Larger aperture and larger sensor for better low-light performance as well as improved dynamic range and optical image stabilization. Not sure how they can really put a much bigger sensor in an iPhone—especially if they're making it thinner. Maybe they've got some kind of crazy microlens sensor design or other advancement such as a more advanced stacked sensor.
Waterproofing and better battery life would also be great. I also love shooting slow-motion, and wish I could take it a step further, so it would be neat if the A10 chip could step that up and handle 4k 60fps, 1080p 240fps, and 720p 480fps. Could possibly be done with CPU improvements and native h.265 encoding. I think the use of faster copper wiring could also reduce the rolling shutter effect, and might be necessary for faster slow-mo. IDK for sure. I think Sony did something like that with the A7RII and A7SII to greatly reduce the rolling shutter in video. Not sure what they use in the latest RX100 which has some fairly legit slow-mo capabilities. There are also a few other things I'd like, such as improved Taptic Engine feedback, True Tone display, Bluetooth 5 (might be too late unless Apple worked with them ahead of time) and a smoother Live Photos option (30fps).
In all reality, I think the iPhone 7 will have the following specs:
- Larger sensor cameras that are better in low light (the Plus will have two cameras for either zoom, faking depth of field, stitching higher-res photos, or some other neat trick
- Water resistant
- Touch home button/Touch ID with Taptic Engine feedback
- No headphone jack
- OIS on every model
- True Tone Display
- Faster A10 chip
- 5-10% better battery life
Nothing crazy, but some solid improvements. It's my hope that we'll get a complete redesign for the 2017 iPhone, with that rumored glass design, which is hopefully shatter resistant with a sapphire laminate coating. I'd also like to see them transition from the touch home button to one integrated into the display. I'm also hoping by then that both iPhone models can get the dual-camera upgrade, both can have true @3X retina, and reduced bezels all the way around with 4GB RAM. I think this year's model is about adding some decent features and setting things up for a more radical look in 2017 without as many new features in that model. I think if they keep the iPhone 6_ naming for the 2016 iPhone then their sales could take a hit, so they might go forward with iPhone 7, bring in a new color or two to make it stand out, and then move to the iPhone 8 in 2017. I know it breaks all the cycles, but considering this is going to look largely like the 6 and all the rumors about the 2017 model being drastically different, I just don't know. I don't see them keeping the 6 naming for sales reasons. From a marketing perspective, it gets too tiring hearing that for three years. It makes it less exciting and less an object of desire. Yeah, it's lame, but it's the way the world (and people) work.
