TECHRUMOURS: iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus/Pro

*All of these are only rumours circulating the internet. Do take it with a pinch (or even more) of salt.

LAUNCH DATE 

With the imminent arrival of the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus ( and maybe the iPhone 7 Pro) on Sept 7, we take a look at all the possible rumours that have come out on the internet. 

Source: Apple,

DESIGN

Image: BGR

If we follow the trend, this year should be the year that Apple releases their new iPhone with a new design. This time they might be going the other way as rumours appeared showing the design of the new device to be of similar dimensions and overall shape with the current ones albeit with minor changes.

The antenna band lines are now moved to the top and the bottom of the phone, no longer cutting the back.

The rear camera hump is still there but the size of the camera on the iPhone 7 will be bigger while we might see dual-camera on the iPhone 7 Plus/Pro (like the Huawei P9).

The earphone jack is said to be excluded from this year’s iPhone. Whether that is wise or not depends on you and your usage.The following article discusses on the issue (BGR).

To reduce the impact of the former move, Apple is said to be including a free 3.5mm to Lightning adapter so that you can use your existing set of earphones/headphones. 

Source: BGR

Some rumours stated that this year’s earpods would definitely be different, having a lightning head instead. Photos (and now even videos) of it are circulating the internet. 

Source: BGR

"The biggest planned change in this year's phones is the removal of the headphone plug, which will make the phone thinner and improve its water resistance," according to the report. Going forward, you'll be able to use the phone's Lightning connector to not only juice up your phone, but also plug in headphones. All in all, the next iPhone should be 1mm thinner than current models, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told the Journal.

Source: PCMag 

 

The size and the dimensions are said to be similar as the previous generation though it will be slightly thinner. 

This year is also rumoured to be the first year that Apple releases three variants of its iPhone: iPhone: iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 7 Pro. Or, the iPhone 7 Plus could be launched as the iPhone 7 Pro, where the size would be bigger than the iPhone 7 and would incorporate better technologies.

Source: BGR , Techradar 

In terms of colours, we might be seeing a new one. “Deep Blue” coloured iPhone has been spotted abd it sure looks cool. The Space Gray might be swapped for an all-black colour scheme. All rumoured by China Unicom.

Source: BGR, BGR 

SCREEN

Screen size is said to be kept at 4.7 and 5.5 inch (Pro is rumoured to be 5.5-inch as well)

 This time, Apple will be using AMOLED technology on its screens.  -> For iPhone 7S (2017).

Source: BGR

CPU

The expected processor powering this year’s iPhone is most likely be the A10.

The RAM will differ according to the variant: iPhone 7 – 2GB, iPhone 7Plus/Pro – 3GB

CAMERA

We might be getting two types of camera on this year’s iPhones. One is a single 12MP camera which is bigger and should have a bigger aperture as well while the second one is a set of two 12MP cameras said to be found on the iPhone 7 Plus/Pro.

Source: Tech Radar

Other sources state that the dual-camera is now cancelled considering the fact that the technology is not yet matured.

Source: BGR

BATTERY

As of now, some are saying that the space left by the audio jack would be utilised to fit in a bigger battery. Though some others also noted that if the iPhone is indeed made thinner, the battery would be slightly reduced. Don't put your hopes up too high that there is going to be a major improvement in this category.

AUDIO

The space that is now gained from the removal of the earphone jack would then be replaced with a second speaker.

Source: CNET

OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES

1. iPhone 7 Plus/Pro will be getting wireless charging. On top of that it’s said to be water resistant now with a rating of IP68
   Source: TechRadar
2. Internal storage would also show an increase starting from 32GB, 128GB and 256GB.
    Source: Independent 

OTHER SOURCES:

BGR, TechRadar, T3,

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7: the complete round-up

I didn’t miss a number. The next big thing from Samsung is called the Galaxy Note 7.

You may asked why did Samsung decided to skip the 6, reason being to simplify things and tally their product line with the S series.

Getting back to the main topic, we finally have it. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7! Unveiled during last night’s  (MYT) Samsung’s Unpacked event. There are many new features to be in awe of! (Spoiler: Iris Scanner XD)

Continuing on the design language of Samsung’s flagship smartphones, the Note 7 is made using glass and aluminum. Damn does the phone look gorgeous. Taking inspiration from the Edge variant of the S series, the curved screen can now be found on Samsung’s Note line,  but looking all the way awesome as it curves into the side metal frame.  

The new curved screen on the Note 7 is a bit subtle compared to the one in the S7 Edge but nonetheless gives the benefits of giving an immersive feeling. You’ll find a beautiful (and big) 5.7-inch Super AMOLED QHD (2560x10) display with a high ppi of 518 at the front of the device. (Note: iPhone 6S Plus only has a 720p display).  

It should also be stronger with the use of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (one of the first smartphone to be using this). Improvements over the Gorilla Glass 4 seems to make this an attractive feature as they say that 80% of the time, drops from around 1.6m should not be able to break the glass. Good to hear that because from what I’ve heard, replacing a curved display is expensive.

Specification wise, the processor inside is Qualcomm’s top of the line Snapdragon 820 or the Exynos 8890 depending on the region. Malaysia should be getting the Exynos variant like the S7/Edge, which has more cores and is said to be very slightly more powerful than the Snapdragon 820 in terms of real life performance. 4GB of RAM is equipped in the phone which would definitely make multi-tasking and heavy gaming a breeze.

It now uses a Type-C port and Samsung gives out free micro-USB to Type-C adapter

As with all Note series, there’s a big 3,500 mAh battery (you also now have Fast Wireless Charging with the Note 7) which is non removable and for good reasoning. You might have expected it, the Note 7 is now IP68 Water & Dust Resistant (translates, can be submerged into 1.5m of water for 30 minutes). It’s not just the phone, the S-Pen is also protected from the inside out. In a way, telling you that you can now take notes underwater. I don’t see when you’ll need this feature but what the heck, an extra feature like this never hurts.

The S-Pen, which made the Note series distinct and famous, is now more refined. The tip is thinner at 0.7mm which should give more precise inputs. The Screen-off memo now allows you to display certain memo on the Always-On-Display which should act as a nice reminder. S-Pen is now a translator as well, you’ll only need to highlight the word and the option to translate would come out. Oh and the Note 7 has a Smart 

Select feature that allows you to create GiFs!

One thing that you won’t find in ANY other smartphone is the Iris Scanner. Adding another layer of security to your smartphone, you can now unlock it in a glance (pun intended). It uses an Iris camera and and Iris IR for this. Apart from unlocking your device with your eyes, this can also be used to validate payments through Samsung Pay and also to unlock your Secret Folder. Secret Folder is a new app by Samsung to safeguard your most important docs/photos/videos. You can even decide to hide it from normal view if you want.

Camera wise, you get the same rear 12MP camera as the S7/Edge. This means it has the best camera on a smartphone. Front camera is a 5MP shooter.

Connectivity wise you’ll get Wifi AC, Bluetooth 4.2 and LTE. The Note 7 comes at a basic configuration of 64GB with the option to expand the memory through a microSD card of up to 256GB. For this, you have a hybrid dual-sim.

Colours available are: Black Onyx, Silver Titanium, Gold Platinum, and the new beautiful Blue Coral. 

Can’t wait to get it? Well you don’t have to suffer long because according to one of the best site for Technews, Lowyat.net, Malaysia is apparently being one of the first countries to get it on its launch date (August 18) at the price of RM3,199. Pre-orders should start within the next few days.

With all these features that highlight the best of Android, I would daresay this is the smartphone to beat now. 

Sources: Samsung, Lowyat.net, GSMArena, TechRadar:Note 7 vs Note 5, TechRadar: Note 7 vs iPhone 6S Plus

Gallery of Samsung's Unpacked event: