The headphone jack-less iPhone 7 rumors are picking up steam and where there’s smoke, there’s usually a fire. Tech blog Macotakara has seemingly posted confirmation of a purportedly leaked image showing the concept and design of the iPhone 7’s rear-case, saying it’s the “real thing” according to AppleInsider.
Admittedly, Apple is surely looking to thin the iPhone 7 down from the current 7.1 mm thick iPhone 6s (iPhone 6s Plus is 7.3 mm). The size of the headphone auxiliary cable module leaves precious levels of clearance on both its sides, and if Apple could somehow remove it, they would have more room inside the iPhone 7 carriage for the absolutely critical components.
If you believe the rumor mill, the solution is removing it entirely and piping audio through the Lightning cable port instead. To give you idea of why, this photo from this teardown shows the difference in size between the 3.5 mm auxiliary module and the Lightning cable module. And to give you idea of the rumor’s feasibility, well, HTC just announced USB Type-C headphones, and their new HTC 10 smartphone is designed to compete with the eventual next iPhone generation.
The reportedly leaked image of the iPhone 7’s rear-case also showcases an enlarged opening for the camera sensor. This would back up the other major iPhone 7 rumor, which infamously accurate KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has put his weight behind, that Apple is intending to implement a two rear-camera feature that would enable higher quality video and digital zoom abilities.
If Apple does decide to do away with the headphone jack port, nobody's quite sure if Apple will bundle Lightning cable or Bluetooth powered headphones with the iPhone 7. AppleInsider did point out that Apple has trademarked the term “ Airpods,” lending credence to the idea of Apple-created Bluetooth headphones. However, Apple may decide to go both routes and simply sell the Bluetooth headphones separately.
As one redditor mentioned, combining audio with the Lightning cable port could lead to a problem when an iPhone 7 user would want to charge their device and listen to music at the same time. Apple could sell adapters, similar to the idea of a headphone splitter, but expect that product to be sold similarly as their other adapters.
But who is to say Apple doesn’t take pity on their customers and bundle it for free with the first-ever — groundbreaking — headphone jack-less smartphone.
