Dual Rear Camera Likely to Remain Exclusive to High-End iPhones in 2017

[thermodynamic]

Pretty sure it's triple cam next year.

One for each color channel, but why not go for 30 cam - 10 for each channel? Either way, for quality work nothing beats a DSLR and its one sensor with physical attributes that quickly explain why it's better suited for most tasks....

But for spying on family and friends, that cell phone camera can't be beat because nobody gives a bleep about color accuracy, so why do Homer Depot and other stores tout those virtual wall painting apps, which are not just buggy because they're poorly made but because color accuracy isn't going to be legitimately good enough...

 

[jdag]

This is what really sucks about the current Apple. They make design decisions based on profit concerns. There would be not way in hell Jobs would not out a high end camera on the mid-size phone it was technically possible. He would charge for it, but he would not cripple the product just to "differentiate the high-end line". Galaxy S8, here I come...

"They make design decisions based on profit concerns."

You just described...a business.

 

[dampfnudel]

It's a different shell. Whether one argues it's aesthetically different enough to call it a new design will always be subject to debate.

But the fact is that it's different, as negligible as that difference may be. Likely next year will be the same shell with IP68. Then there will be a redesign in 2018.

So next year when the redesigned iPhone 8 arrives, you'll probably "forget" the comments you made. The iPhone 7 belongs to the 6/6s family of design.

 

[elmaco]

I wish the 10th anniversary phone was a separate project started in 2011, with the purpose of creating something really innovative and mind blowing, that was not constrained two ordinary 1-2 years release cycle.

A Lisa project for the iPhone.

Tim would have asked Steve how he imagined a phone in five years. He would say: no bezels, a display covering the whole phone, no physical buttons, automatic biometric login, water proof and no cables or ports, not even for charging. And there will be a voice interface where you can do everything, like the Apple Navigator

 

[MICHAELSD]

Hmm, MacRumors picked up on my prediction of the iPhone 8 potentially being called iPhone X .
[doublepost=1473468926][/doublepost]

I wish the 10th anniversary phone was a separate project started in 2011, with the purpose of creating something really innovative and mind blowing, that was not constrained two ordinary 1-2 years release cycle.

A Lisa project for the iPhone.

Tim would have asked Steve how he imagined a phone in five years. He would say: no bezels, a display covering the whole front, no physical home button, automatic biometric login, water proof and no cables or ports, not even for charging.

I don't think we'll get all of that for iPhone X but I do think the direction they're heading is to remove all physical buttons and ports, which would require everybody to switch over to Bluetooth/wireless headphones and obviously wireless charging. Maybe within the decade but they wouldn't push Lightning headphones if they plan to get rid of the Lightning port soon.

 

[Michael Goff]

"They make design decisions based on profit concerns."

You just described...a business.

People seem to think some businesses make decisions based on something else. Like when they attribute good or evil to them. It's not good or evil, it's profits.

 

[dampfnudel]

Hmm, MacRumors picked up on my prediction of the iPhone 8 potentially being called iPhone X .
[doublepost=1473468926][/doublepost]

I don't think we'll get all of that for iPhone X but I do think the direction they're heading is to remove all physical buttons and ports, which would require everybody to switch over to Bluetooth/wireless headphones and obviously wireless charging. Maybe within the decade but they wouldn't push a Lightning headphones if they plan to get rid of the Lightning port soon.

I think the Lightning port could be gone in 3 years or less.

 

[MICHAELSD]

I think the Lightning port could be gone in 3 years or less.

Seems a little shortsighted to its customers to have them buy Lightning headphones now then make them obsolete that quickly. There are a lot of new Lightning headphones on the market.

 

[morphineseason]

Shrink the phone and it won't be a big deal. The Plus is just too big in its current design.

Agreed. I don't think they would need to shrink the screen itself, but just bring the top and bottom bezels in, maybe the sides a bit, if the screen tech allows for it, or possibly remove the home button in favor of an Android-like on screen home button that utilizes 3D touch to avoid accidental pressing. On the other hand, I also always thought the 4.7" should just be a 5" model. I think it'd be the perfect size, but instead we're stuck with slightly-too-small and slightly-too-big models. I'm just glad the Plus isn't 6". That's just way too big.

 

[dampfnudel]

Seems a little shortsighted to its customers to have them buy Lightning headphones now then make them obsolete that quickly. There are a lot of new Lightning headphones on the market.

It should be obvious by now that Apple is going wireless and wants to make the iPhone waterproof which would necessitate the removal of the Lightning port. I wouldn't purchase any Lightning headphone knowing this nor should anyone else.

 

[MICHAELSD]

It should be obvious by now that Apple is going wireless and wants to make the iPhone waterproof which would necessitate the removal of the Lightning port. I wouldn't purchase any Lightning headphone knowing this nor should anyone else.

But people will, then they'll complain lol. If Apple goes fully-wireless they should include AirPod v2 in the box.

 

[CEmajr]

People thinking Apple is going to break tradition and sacrifice profit margins to do a redesigned "iPhone 8" next year are setting themselves up for disappointment. They've never done an anniversary product before, not even for the Mac so I doubt they'll do it now.

iPhone 7S in 2017

 

[MICHAELSD]

People thinking Apple is going to break tradition and sacrifice profit margins to do a redesigned "iPhone 8" next year are setting themselves up for disappointment. They've never done an anniversary product before, not even for the Mac so I doubt they'll do it now.

iPhone 7S in 2017

iPhone 7 is a 7 and 7S in one. All I could see them adding to it is an OLED display which probably won't sell on its own as much as I want one.

 

[Sedulous]

No way they are going all glass again. It would either have to weight a lot more and be thicker or be exceedingly fragile. More likely to see ceramics or Kevlar if they change casing material at all.

Fine, put fancy camera on bigger phone but really need to streamline the product lines in a major way. Too many versions of too many confused products.

 

[Daum]

After 9 yrs of iPhones, I'm not updating this time. Features are mediocre, and the design is outdated compared to samsung's line. I'll wait for the 2017 iPhone and will probably switch to a Note 7 after the battery fix until the iPhone 8/X is available.

The Note 7 is beautiful, making the iPhone 7 look like garbage.

 

[Batman89]

All this talk about this amazing "10th Anniversary" iPhone.

It's going to end up being a 7S, people.

The killer phone you're all waiting for isn't coming until 2018.

 

[npmacuser5]

Hight End = iPhone Plus... will not work for me. The Plus camera would be a nice upgrade, going to the Plus size not a good option for my needs.

 

[Sedulous]

People thinking Apple is going to break tradition and sacrifice profit margins to do a redesigned "iPhone 8" next year are setting themselves up for disappointment. They've never done an anniversary product before, not even for the Mac so I doubt they'll do it now.

iPhone 7S in 2017

Actually, they have. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twentieth_Anniversary_Macintosh

 

[Return Zero]

This is fine, I don't know what all the complaints are about. It's clearly a large module that would not fit very well into the regular iPhone without sacrificing something. Maybe they could shrink it down, but personally I think I'd rather have one large image sensor for better quality than two smaller ones for added features. If you're super-serious about iPhone photography you can add some of the clip-on lens solutions that actually work quite well nowadays.

 

[Fousthvk]

People thinking Apple is going to break tradition and sacrifice profit margins to do a redesigned "iPhone 8" next year are setting themselves up for disappointment. They've never done an anniversary product before, not even for the Mac so I doubt they'll do it now.

iPhone 7S in 2017

You must be too young to remember.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twentieth_Anniversary_Macintosh
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Actually, they have. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twentieth_Anniversary_Macintosh

I think we replied at the same time ha.
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No way they are going all glass again. It would either have to weight a lot more and be thicker or be exceedingly fragile. More likely to see ceramics or Kevlar if they change casing material at all.

Fine, put fancy camera on bigger phone but really need to streamline the product lines in a major way. Too many versions of too many confused products.

Really. Out of most large corporations Apple probably has the most streamlined product line. That is why so many people complain of long Mac upgrades. Because Apple doesn't want to have 20 macs on the market at one time. But yet they don't want to run into extereme part stock overage.

You know that obsolescence of products is driven by their part stock bin. If macOS or iOS doesn't support an earlier model it has more to due with parts availability then technical ability. Look at the dumb compatible macOS 10.12 hardware. So many macs like the Xserve from 09 are more powerful then a 2010 Mac mini.

 

[wozmatic]

Apple is reportedly looking to move to a glass body and a flexible edge-to-edge OLED display that curves around the sides of the device.

I would never by another iPhone again

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[GoodWheaties]

I'd prefer that it were made of zirconium dioxide ceramic, like the new  Watch Edition.
Clear zirconia looks exactly like glass, so maybe that's how the "glass body" rumors started.
It's almost totally scratch-proof, and Apple has taken several steps toward a zirconia iPhone.

Apple applied for its first zirconia patent back in 2006 for general consumer electronics:
http://appleinsider.com/articles/06...tent_on_radio_transparent_zirconia_ce_casings

And they applied for another patent specific to  Watch Edition and iPhone enclosures a year ago:
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...c-apple-watch-and-all-new-ceramic-iphone.html

But is zirconia shatter-resistant enough?
Is it recyclable enough?
Can it be mass-produced quickly and cheaply enough?
I guess we'll find out next year.

This is slightly changing the subject but I just looked at the new ceramic Edition and realized that is the only option now. No more solid gold cases. Maybe they will forever be exclusive. Not that I own one or anything

 

[Tech198]

starts off this way, then it will come to iPhone 7.. Nothing from Apple surprises me anymore.

 

[mozumder]

What!! Larger aperture lenses means nothing about image quality (read-sharpness). In fact often smaller aperture lenses avoid the softness and aberrations that larger aperture lenses have. The advantage of larger apertures is simply to let in more light. That is what people pay the big bucks for, as well as the unique look of shallow depth of field.
In regards to the second camera, no, software zoom would be nowhere near as good as it. The slower aperture means nothing in good light, in fact could be preferred since there could be better sharpness all over the frame due to greater depth of field, albeit could become a handicap in low light.

This is incorrect. For tiny sensors, the image is diffraction limited. They're already blurry. A larger aperture reduces diffraction blur.

You can see it in larger dSLRs when you get blurry images at F/8 and smaller. But they have large 7 micron pixels. For tiny 1micron pixels on cell phone cameras, you are already at the diffraction limit.

 

[Tomasulu]

Sorry. It'll be the 7S next year. If you're hoping for a radical redesign, look to 2018. 10th iPhone anniversary will have no impact on moving the pipeline forward 1 year.

People have seen these sort of rumours come and go. They were expecting it with the 4S as well.

Wanna bet? I hate it that people continue to question Kuo when he is almost always correct. Like we should listen to uninformed bozos out there instead of someone with a strong strong track record.

Be gone.