Apple's Beats brand in April unveiled the Powerbeats Pro, a redesigned wire-free version of its popular fitness-oriented Powerbeats earbuds.
New Rumor Suggests iPhone 7 Won't Include Smart Connector After All
A Smart Connector has been one of the features rumored for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, but a new report from Japanese site Mac Otakara suggests Apple has decided not to include a Smart Connector on the upcoming devices.
The Smart Connector, first introduced with the iPad Pro, is a new type of port designed to transfer both data and power between the iPad Pro and accessories like the Smart Keyboard. It's never been clear what purpose a Smart Connector would serve on an iPhone, but speculation ranged from battery cases to wireless charging.
Hints that a Smart Connector would be included on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus first surfaced in an image said to be of the iPhone 7 Plus shared by a Chinese website in March. It is still not clear whether that image depicts an actual iPhone 7 device, a mockup based on design schematics, or a counterfeit device. A Smart Connector was also depicted in design drawings created by Mac Fan, but those drawings are often largely based on circulating rumors.
Mac Otakara suggests Apple decided to shelve the Smart Connector after considering it as an included feature, but given the questionable nature of the original rumor, it's possible a Smart Connector was never planned for the device. Rumors about the iPhone 7 are still uncertain with a lot of conflicting information surfacing, so the final design and features of the device continue to be up in the air.
Rumors have disagreed on features like waterproofing, the removal of the headphone jack, the thickness of the iPhone 7, stereo speakers, whether the camera will protrude, and more, but it's likely a clearer picture of the iPhone 7 will emerge in the months leading up to its prospective fall release.
The Smart Connector, first introduced with the iPad Pro, is a new type of port designed to transfer both data and power between the iPad Pro and accessories like the Smart Keyboard. It's never been clear what purpose a Smart Connector would serve on an iPhone, but speculation ranged from battery cases to wireless charging.
Hints that a Smart Connector would be included on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus first surfaced in an image said to be of the iPhone 7 Plus shared by a Chinese website in March. It is still not clear whether that image depicts an actual iPhone 7 device, a mockup based on design schematics, or a counterfeit device. A Smart Connector was also depicted in design drawings created by Mac Fan, but those drawings are often largely based on circulating rumors.
Mac Otakara suggests Apple decided to shelve the Smart Connector after considering it as an included feature, but given the questionable nature of the original rumor, it's possible a Smart Connector was never planned for the device. Rumors about the iPhone 7 are still uncertain with a lot of conflicting information surfacing, so the final design and features of the device continue to be up in the air.
Rumors have disagreed on features like waterproofing, the removal of the headphone jack, the thickness of the iPhone 7, stereo speakers, whether the camera will protrude, and more, but it's likely a clearer picture of the iPhone 7 will emerge in the months leading up to its prospective fall release.
Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Tags: macotakara.jp, Smart Connector
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43 months ago
That would make it the first flagship smartphone in the world without any new feature at all. This is what I call thinking different.
43 months ago
It's the typical "Let's write a rumor both ways – that way we're right regardless of what happens!" Nothing much to see here. I do think this would be a nice feature, though.
43 months ago
So it's gonna be a new camera and one less jack......uncompromisingly boring....unapologetically innovation less.....imaginatively unimaginative
43 months ago
I don't understand why people only think that smart connector is for keyboard. Logitech already made a dock for the iPad Pro, showing that it can be used to charge as well.
43 months ago
So you'd prefer riding a horse to driving a car? Or flying in a jet vs riding on a sailing ship? Meaningful change requires people to come up with solutions to problems we sometimes didn't realize existed.
That implication- that we are all stupid- is ridiculous. Cars would supplant horses without being forced on anyone... and did. Jet planes would have become a desirable alternative industry without being forced on anyone... and they did too. Both were BETTER... obviously better. When people can see obviously better, they will move on it. Color TV was obviously better than Black & White, so it didn't require anyone to quit making B&W TVs to get the masses to adopt color. iPhone was obviously better than mostly dumb phones in 2007. Apple didn't need to motivate the world to quit making dumb phones to make iPhone a desirable alternative.
Give us some credit. We are not so dumb that we need a corporation to decide something like this for us. If Bluetooth was better, we could already be all over it. Bluetooth audio has been an available alternative for listening to iDevice music for years now. If Lightning headphones were better, we could already be over it. Those headphone options already exist too. BUT, unlike cars or jets or color TV, they are not obviously better... so the masses don't move on it.
Trying to force a move anyway requires one to believe that a corporation- any corporation- knows better... that we're a bunch of lemmings too dumb to know better vs. status quo. And yet, we did buy iPhones when the status quo was not iPhones. We did buy iPads when the status quo was not iPads. We do buy Macs when the bulk of the world shows an overwhelming preference for the status quo of Windows. Etc.
If nothing else, a most favored company that regularly spins "think different" and "people are too dumb to think differently" are incompatible concepts. Is Apple wrong for encouraging us to "think different" or is Apple wrong for seeing us as "too dumb to think differently" (that they have to "force" such changes upon us to "make things better")?
It's OUR money and people are generally more educated than they've ever been. But even our grandfathers or great grandfathers had enough brains to see that cars were obviously better than horses and jet plane (trips in hours) were obviously better than sailing ship (same trip in days or weeks). All these years later, there are still horses and sailing ships... with both still available to use as transportation for anyone too stupid to go with cars & jet planes (but no disrespect to those who might choose such options for some other reason). The success of cars & jets did not requiring killing horses & sailing ships, nor forcing the public to embrace one over the other.
Obviously better doesn't need any force. Obviously better wins on it's own merits. When innovation is weak or thin, that's when it needs a lot of push to try to make people want what is most definitely NOT obviously better.
43 months ago
BREAKING NEWS: Nobody has any idea what features will or will not be included in the new iPhone, the full story at 11.
43 months ago
Thank god, can we put this 'rumour' to bed?
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Who cares what the iphone 7 will or will not have!!??
Most people I'd wager. (More than) half the people visiting the website probably care about Apple products and the features they will offer. Duh?
43 months ago
More and more I'm being convinced that all these are fake rumours and leaks made by Apple to fool us and launch a completely different, amazing iPhone 7 :O
We always say this but then the phone turns out to be what we have seen in the leaks. I'm pretty sure this is what the next iphone will look like. The way the bands are on this phone totally look like apple. And the way the camera is set up in this looks very clean and like apple
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