'iPhone 7' Rumored to Be Waterproof, Possibly Adopt Non-Metallic Casing Material

The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus was just released in first-wave launch countries around the world last Friday, but a few new rumors about the 2016 "iPhone 7" have begun to surface online this morning. According to a source from the Chinese social media site Weibo (via Mac Otakara) [Google Translate], the next version of the iPhone will have a strengthened, waterproof frame and may ditch a metallic casing altogether.

iphone 6s_6s_plus_featured
This strengthened body would certainly follow in the footsteps of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, which bolstered the weak points of its predecessors and moved to a stronger 7000 Series aluminum alloy. According to today's rumors, however, the so-called iPhone 7 will find its strength in a focus on a waterproof and dust-proof body that would allow iPhone users to worry less about dropping their smartphones in liquids.

This big new upgrade to the iPhone 7 would call for a new frame and casing material, and according to one of the postings on Weibo, Apple is in fact planning on adopting an entirely new material next year for the iPhone 7. If this turns out to be the case, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus would be the last in the iPhone line to include a metallic casing for the smartphone.

Mac Otakara also received news from reliable sources stating that the upcoming iPhone would have a "completely flat" LCD screen, but, as with all of today's rumors, it should be taken with a grain of salt given that we're just now under a year away from Apple revealing the device. These aren't the first rumors of the iPhone 7, either, with reports dating back to March concerning the 2016 iPhone's possibility of adopting Intel LTE Chips, including glass-on-glass touch panels, and being the thinnest iPhone yet.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1

Monday September 22, 2025 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are the first updates to the iOS, iPadOS, macOS 26, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS releases that came out last week. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going...

Top Rated Comments

mKizzo Avatar
130 months ago
Not too far fetched going by that video going around of the new iPhones being under water for over an hour and still working.
That and the fact that Sony has managed that on their smartphone for 2 years now...
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ballis Avatar
130 months ago
Make 4" an option and improve on overall design. And remove that ugly protruding camera. Then Ill be a buyer.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Anaxarxes Avatar
130 months ago
Finally Liquid Alloy tech body with rugged design and non-physical 3D Touch home button is coming.

IMO, 10th iPhone will be something special.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
acctman Avatar
130 months ago
are people really dropping there phones in water to the point it needs to be water resistant? you can be without your phone in the pool. seems like a pointless feature to add being that the speakers, mic, charge port, etc would have to be water resistant. doing this would muffle/reduce clarity. why not focus on making the battery last longer or something more important. just my thoughts...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Iconoclysm Avatar
130 months ago
It would be nice to see them do wireless charging, and Bluetooth headphones to get rid of the headphone jack, and waterproof the speaker/mic system. Just a thought.
Wireless charging is really niche right now. It's an inevitability but not with the current technology.

Ditching the headphone jack? No way. Requiring powered headphones is one of the worst things they could ever do...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BrodieApple Avatar
130 months ago
Plastic? PLEASE no. Hopefully because this rumour is so early it's unlikely.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)