There goes one hypothesis about the iPhone 7 speakers

The most controversial change on the new iPhone 7 will be the removal of the headphone jack. You'll either love it or hate it. Accept dongle hell, go Bluetooth or buy new Lightning-based headphones.

In the run-up to the announcement, which is widely expected to be Sept. 7, we've been trying to make educated guesses as to why Apple will drop the jack.

Here are some possible reasons Apple will use to defend its choice:

1. The iPhone 7 will support high-res audio
2. Apple wants to make thinner iPhones and the port's thickness is a limitation.
3. Complete water-sealing.
4. To sell you new Lightning earbuds and headphones.
5. To squeeze in a bigger battery, the port had to die.
6. Bluetooth is the future, no matter what you think. Get over it!

The best hypothesis has been: stereo speakers. In all of the leaked images that have surfaced of the alleged iPhone 7 and 7 Plus there are two sets of speaker holes on the bottom flanking the Lightning port.

A new report from Nowhereelse.fr, with alleged design schematics of the new iPhones, suggests that may not be the case and there will be no secondary speaker. The iPhone, for those who don't know, only has a single downward-facing speaker.

IMAGE: NOWHEREELSE.FR

iPhones prior to the iPhone 6 all had dual speaker grilles flanking the connector port, but none were stereo speakers. No iPhone has had stereo speakers. 

One of the benefits of the iPad Pro is its enhanced audio. Both the 12.9- and 9.7-inch iPad Pro have four speaker grilles that output stereo sound.

With less space to fit components, it would be tough to squeeze in a secondary speaker into the already tightly packed iPhone.

Stereo speakers would be a good, but not great reason to ditch the headphone jack. But if that's not the reason, then what will be? It's starting to sound like whatever the reason is, it won't be one we'll be thrilled with. 

The MashTalk crew discusses the rumored updates coming to the MacBook Pro

This is the final MashTalk for me — AKA C-Mac, AKA Film_Girl — as a host. Don't worry, MashTalk will continue. 

I love you all very much and want to thank the listeners for their patronage and awesomeness over the years. RayRay, Lance and Pete, also thank you for your support and friendship over the years. You guys are the best.

But don't fret, it's not all sad. I settle in with Raymond Wong and Pete Pachal to talk about everything happening in the world of tech.

We kick it off with a discussion about the latest iPhone rumors (2:00). This inevitably leads into yet another conversation about the headphone jack (RIP) and what kind of earbudsApple might package with the device this fall (10:00).

After the iPhone, our talk moves to an Apple product rumored for a big update, the MacBook Pro (16:45). We discuss the rumored design decisions, the ubiquity of USB-C and how much dongle hell we'll all be in. Too bad we're not expecting to see the new MacBook until October.

Moving on, Ray talks about his experience with the Dlodlo VR headset (30:00). It's thin, light and only a little bit dorky looking. OK, it still looks really nerdy. I'm not sure that any third-platform (let alone one from Kickstarter) is going to make waves in VR, but Ray is hopeful that this thing encourages other manufacturers to make sleeker gear. 

Pete's not convinced VR will ever be a thing we wear all the time.

Finally, we talk about the GIF-ban on the Olympics (38:00) and how the internet has gotten around it anyway. The New York Times' approach with swimming animations is really smart. We all basically agree that even though the rationale for NBC might make sense on paper, trying to stop the GIFs is just futile.

Listen to the episode on iTunes or on Stitcher. You can also subscribe to MashTalk on iTunes by clicking the button below to get our latest episodes, instantly. If you like MashTalk, please fill out our audience survey.

Someone built a near-perfect iPhone 7 mockup

We've reached a whole new stage of Apple iPhone 7 rumor management.

For months we've watched as iPhone 7 rumors big and small have made their way from Apple's leaky cauldron(?) China(?), Foxconn(?) to the salivating public. They cover everything from size, shape, number of cameras and ports to memory and potential new colors.

What if you synthesized all that into one idea, one simulacrum of the possible real thing? No, we're not talking about a 3D rendering. Instead, someone made a physical model, or mock up, that represents virtually every reasonable iPhone rumor we've heard since the 6S was released almost a year ago.

The title of Unbox Therapy's new video is  iPhone 7 Plus - Hands on with Prototype. But as the host makes clear in the video, it's a mock-up produced by a Chinese company called B Sound. It is, though, an incredible piece of work. Every detail, sans a working OS, looks like it was produced by the House of Apple and not some Chines Apple products knock-off company.

The mock-up includes a number of rumored iPhone 7 features, including the smart connector, dual camera and the removal of the antenna lines that separate the pieces of the chassis on the iPhone 6s. As you might expect, it does not have a headphone jack.

There have been other iPhone 7 prototype/mock-up videos, though not as clear or well produced as this.

So what are we to make of this one?

If Unbox Therapy had a real Apple iPhone 7 Plus prototype and showed it off this extensively in a video, Apple would likely beat a path to the host's door, grab this purple phone and ask someone to arrest the guy. Need we remind anyone about what happened with the iPhone 4?

The video, which was posted on Wednesday, has amassed over 3 million views in 48 hours and, so far, there's no sign of an angry Apple or a cease-and-desist order. 

Which makes us fairly certain that this is just expert craftsmanship and not a high-tech caper.

Source says Apple may be releasing its own wireless earbuds soon

Today in the ever-disappointing iPhone 7 missing headphone jack saga: Forbes is reporting that Apple has developed a custom Bluetooth radio chip for wireless earbuds. 

This might be exciting because Apple is making them and there's a chance they'll actually have decent battery life, unlike most bluetooth headphones. 

It's important to note, however, that Forbes never names the source or a release date. We also don't know how the headphones would work to preserve battery life, or what else actually makes them special. And even this anonymous source is reporting that the headphones have been delayed in the past due to performance issues. 

If Apple can't develop its own headphones, the company may use a third-party supplier like Broadcom, which they used for other wireless technologies. The developers working on the headphones are technically external recruits from an Oakland-based semiconductor startup called Passif. Apple in 2013 acquired the company, which describes its mission as making “switch-based wireless transceivers with low power consumption and a small footprint.”

In other words, they may or may not actually come out alongside the iPhone 7 in September. But pressure is high to do so, now that Samsung just announced its own Bluetooth earbuds, GearIconX.

But Apple sets high standards for itself. It seems we'll either get some stellar headphones or nothing at all. 

“The way it works at Apple is if it doesn’t work 100%, it gets cut,” Forbes' anonymous source said.

Source says Apple may be releasing its own wireless earbuds soon

Today in the ever-disappointing iPhone 7 missing headphone jack saga: Forbes is reporting that Apple has developed a custom Bluetooth radio chip for wireless earbuds.

This might be exciting because Apple is making them and there's a chance they'll actually have decent battery life, unlike most bluetooth headphones. 

It's important to note, however, that Forbes never names the source or a release date. We also don't know how the headphones would work to preserve battery life, or what else actually makes them special. And even this anonymous source is reporting that the headphones have been delayed in the past due to performance issues.  

If Apple can't develop its own headphones, the company may use a third-party supplier like Broadcom, which they used for other wireless technologies. The developers working on the headphones are technically external recruits from an Oakland-based semiconductor startup called Passif. Apple in 2013 acquired the company, which describes its mission as making “switch-based wireless transceivers with low power consumption and a small footprint.”

In other words, they may or may not actually come out alongside the iPhone 7 in September. But pressure is high to do so, now that Samsung just announced its own Bluetooth earbuds, GearIconX.

But Apple sets high standards for itself. It seems we'll either get some stellar headphones or nothing at all. 

“The way it works at Apple is if it doesn’t work 100%, it gets cut,” Forbes' anonymous source said.

New iPhone 7 leak corroborates bigger camera, no headphone jack

Remember when Apple would hop on stage and unveil an iPhone that you hadn't already seen in a hundred internet leaks?

Who are we kidding? That hasn't happened since the 2009 release of the iPhone 3GS. Since then, every new iPhone has been leaked months ahead of official announcements.

A fresh batch of  iPhone 7 (or iPhone 6SE, if some rumors are to be believed) news has hit the web, courtesy of French website Nowhereelse.fr and it largely reveals what we've already seen.

Steve Hemmerstoffer aka the editor of NWE aka @OnLeaks on Twitter tweeted out the new iPhone images. He claims the snaps are of a real "testing stage unit" and not a dummy mockup like the ones we've seen before.

6h

Steve Hemmerstoffer @stagueve

Alleged working #iPhone7 testing stage unit...http://www.nowhereelse.fr/iphone-7-photos-exemplaire-fonctionnel-115021/ … pic.twitter.com/Eg1tQ0VRFt

 Follow

David James @DavidDjames25

@stagueve So there is a physical home button by the looks of that, it has the Touch ID ring.

5:48 PM - 4 Aug 2016

 
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The images largely corroborate what we've previously seen and heard about the new iPhone: It'll look almost the same as the iPhone 6S, have tidier antenna lines, a larger camera hump to likely accommodate an improved camera sensor and no headphone jack.

The new batch of photos didn't showcase the new, larger iPhone with the dual rear cameras.

Hemmerstoffer also didn't comment on whether the prototype unit had a home button that still pressed in or not. It's rumored Apple will make it touch-sensitive and use some kind of Force Touch technology to replicate a physical button press.

The switch to a capacitive home button could also hint at better sealing, which could suggest water resistance.

GeekBar also posted a video on YouTube showing a functional iPhone 7 in action:

Apple is expected to announce its new iPhones in early September. We're almost there!

Bigger iPhone 7 could be more powerful than the smaller one

I'm praying it doesn't happen, but it's very possible Apple may release two new iPhone 7 models this fall — a 4.7-inch and a 5.5-inch version — and the latter will be much more powerful.

With the last two generations of iPhones, Apple left all things internal the same on both flagship iPhones, with the exception of the screens and the optical image stabilization in the 6 Plus/6S Plus's iSight camera.

It was really nice knowing that one wasn't markedly better than the other.

With iPhone growth slowing down, Apple could shake things u — not just with the removal of the headphone jack — big time come this fall.

Not only is the company expected to put a dual camera system on the larger model, but it's now possibly the larger model could have more RAM, too.

Word on the street from the supply chain, according to the well-connected KGI Securities analyst Min Ching Kuo, is that the iPhone 7 "Plus/Pro" will come with 3GB of RAM and the smaller 4.7-inch will stick to 2GB like the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.

A new report from DigiTimes doesn't directly corroborate the larger iPhone getting more RAM, only that they expect the iPhone 7 (both models or maybe just one) will come with 3GB of RAM.

With the two cameras on the back and potentially a smart connector on the back of the larger model, it's within reason that the larger iPhone will need more memory to keep its beefier parts running smoothly. 

Apple has needed no reason to bump the amount of RAM up in its iPhones due to the efficiency of iOS. Android, on the the other hand, is more resource-intensive and needs more RAM by necessity — flagship phones now have between 4GB to 6GB of RAM.

As always, it's pure speculation and nothing is official until Apple makes it so. All will be revealed soon enough.

9 in 10 iPhone users won't buy iPhone 7 without redesign, survey finds

A new survey by Quartz reveals that if Apple doesn't dramatically alter the iPhone 7 from the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, nearly 90 percent of iPhone users will not upgrade. 

It's probably not the news Apple wants to hear since iPhone sales are on the decline. But now that we all have iPhones, and after nearly 10 years of using them, it's no surprise there's fatigue. Not only that, but the iPhone 7 in particular looks truly underwhelming.

The online survey, which involved 525 respondents through SurveyMonkey, showed that nearly 63 percent of users would be interested to see a revamped iPhone.

IMAGE: ATLAS CHARTS/DATA FROM SURVEYMONKEY

But less than 10 percent would be "very likely" or "extremely likely" to line up for the iPhone as it is. 

IMAGE: ATLAS CHARTS/DATA FROM SURVEYMONKEY

Rumors about the new iPhone hint at tiny changes most of which look super annoying (RIP, headphone jack). There are also fears of restricting all of the worthwhile updates to the 7 Plus/ Pro. 

IMAGE: ATLAS CHARTS/DATA FROM SURVEYMONKEY

Then again, CEO Tim Cook has said that 60 percent of iPhone users own a version older than iPhone 6. And iPhone is testing out a new program that lets users pay off a new phone on credit, and then update once a year. So who knows, things could change dramatically come November. We'll see soon enough. 

Like Follow Follow Apple might announce 3 different iPhone 7 models this year

New images leaked by the Apple sleuths at Nowherelse.fr (via China's Weibo as always) suggest Apple could release not two, but three iPhone 7 models this fall. 

Up until now, all leaks and reports have suggested Apple sticking to two new iPhone 7 models: a 4.7- and 5.5-inch Plus model.

If these leaked photos turn out to be true, Apple could release those two models and an iPhone 7 "Pro" version with the rumored dual rear cameras, three-dot smart connector presumably for connecting accessories and possibly better specs. Then again, it's possible Apple is (or was, at some point) simply considering two different designs for the larger model.

It was previously reported that Apple was testing two 5.5-inch iPhone 7 models. This is the first time we've seen a "Plus" model with a single camera bump on the back that matches the new, bigger one expected on the regular 4.7-inch model.

IMAGE: NOWHEREELSE.FR

Also worth noting: The aluminum casing sports an "S" below the iPhone branding, which may or may not be a hint at the iPhone 7's name.

Not much else was revealed in the photos. A photo showing what is believed to be the front of the three iPhone 7 models looks the same as the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. It's impossible to tell if the home buttons in the picture above is the rumored touch-sensitive one or not.

Apple is expected to announce its next iPhones this fall. The phones will reportedly break with tradition in a number of ways. First, we're not expecting any major redesigns (that's supposedly coming next year). And second, Apple is widely expected to remove the headphone jack, which would no doubt send fans into a frenzy.

Now that iPhone 7 rumor season is in full swing, it's important as always to keep your anti-reality-distortion goggles on. All of these rumors are unconfirmed until Tim Cook and company make them official.

A touch-sensitive home button on the iPhone 7 would be a great idea

The iPhone's home button could see its biggest change yet on the iPhone 7.

The latest rumor suggests the iPhone 7, which won't be a radical departure, could come with a touch-sensitive home button that won't actually be clickable, according to MobiPicker.

According to images obtained by the tech blog, the iPhone 7's home button may be sealed, rather than indented the way it is on current iOS devices.

Though the authenticity of the photos hasn't been verified, if true, the iPhone home button, which also houses the Touch ID fingerprint sensor, could be more responsive and have a functionality similar to the fingerprint sensors on Android phones. 

On Android phones like the OnePlus 3, HTC 10 and Nexus 6P, the fingerprint sensors unlock with a touch — no press required. It's faster and a lot more intuitive.

View image on Twitter

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MOBIPICKER.COM @MOBIpicker

iPhone 7 New Images Reveal Touch-Sensitive Home Buttonhttp://www.mobipicker.com/iphone-7-new-images-reveal-touch-sensitive-home-button/ …

11:48 AM - 15 Jun 2016

 
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IMAGE: SCREENSHOT: MOBIPICKER

While there have been various leaked images of the iPhone 7's purported metal casing, we haven't seen any of the front. Still, a home button change isn't completely implausible.

In iOS 10, Apple has reworked how the unlock screen works with the home button. In tandem with a new feature that activates the screen immediately when the phone is lifted, you will now press to unlock the phone instead of swipe to unlock.

iOS 10's new press home to unlock.

IMAGE: SCREENSHOT BY KARISSA BELL/MASHABLE

As with all leaks, it's wise to take this one with a grain of salt. Until Apple officially announces the iPhone 7, it's just a rumor.