Apple Inc. is preparing to unveil their newest iPhone models next month.
The new iPhones will have more advanced photography capabilities and upgraded hardware in a design similar to their iPhone 6s versions.
The main features will be a dual-camera system, a re-engineered home button that responds to pressure with haptic feedback and the removal of the devices’ headphone jack. Apple declined to comment.
The new models’ success will be critical to the holiday quarter, and Apple is counting on the phones to prop up sales ahead of an expected iPhone overhaul in 2017, the device’s 10th anniversary.
Moving away from the typical two-year iPhone redesign cycle, this year’s models will look similar to the 6 and 6S. The new iPhones will retain the same 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screen sizes as their predecessors, the first of which was introduced in September 2014.
The dual cameras on the larger new iPhone will produce brighter photos with more detail. Both sensors, which each capture color differently, simultaneously take a picture, and the device produces a single, merged photograph. The dual system will also sharpen photos taken in low-light environments
Apple is planning an updated home button for the new models. Current home buttons are switches that physically press into the phone, but the new models will have a pressure-sensitive button that provides feedback to the user via a vibrating haptic sensation rather than a true physical click.
The new iPhones will remove the headphone jack in favor of connectivity via Bluetooth and the charging port, that will make room for a second speaker.
The new models will run iOS 10, the new version of Apple’s mobile operating system coming this fall. The updated software offers interactive widgets to quickly glance at calendar appointments and favorite contacts, new messaging features, a new application for controlling smart home appliances, and a redesigned Apple Music. The new software will also run on current and some past iPhone models.
