A new story from Nikkei confidently states what many following the so-called “iPhone 7” leaks have been thinking — Apple appears to be pushing its usual two years between full model changes to a three-year cycle. While Nikkei doesn’t cite any Apple sources in making the claim, the new iPhone seems to have the same dimensions as the iPhone 6s and certainly looks more like a minor improvement to the current model than a dramatically new device in its own right, with camera upgrades expected to be the major new feature.
Tech analysts and journalists alike see the 2017 iPhone as the next great leap forward, with that model thought to be getting an improved edge-to-edge display, embedded Touch ID sensor, possible wireless charging and perhaps an all-glass body.
This leaves the 2016 iPhone’s place in the system something of a mystery. If 2016 is a third year of the iPhone 6 cycle, it makes us wonder what Apple will do with the name of the device.
Rumors of an ‘iPhone Pro’ further complicate matters, with the dual-camera system expected to only arrive in the larger of 2016’s iPhone models, and speculation over whether or not that larger phone will feature the Smart Connector system first seen in the iPad Pro. Time will tell, but let us know your own theories in the comments below.