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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2016-05-09, 16:00

Sorry y'all, didn't realize it was doing that...

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Do you want an iPhone 7? In past years this would’ve been a rhetorical question. Of course millions and millions of Apple AAPL +0.12% customers wanted the latest and greatest iPhone. But doubts are growing about what users might get in 2016…

And now according to the usually reliable Macotakara, Apple’s latest hardware innovation to be pulled from the iPhone 7 is the ‘Smart Connector’.

Interestingly this was clearly visible in a leaked iPhone 7 prototype (identifiable by the three dots on the back of the device – below) and Macotakara says Apple decided not to carry it forward to the final design.

What is the Smart Connector? In short: something potentially rather exciting.

Apple introduced the Smart Connector with the iPad Pro range and it enables the Lightning port to deliver both power and data simultaneously. For example, with the iPad Pro this means third party keyboards don’t require batteries or charging – they just work the moment they are plugged in.

How would this be used with iPhones? That would obviously be up to Apple and creative third parties to decide, but with accessories able to take power from an iPhone it could’ve led to some seriously sleek wireless headphones, mini keyboards, ‘smart’ protective cases, etc.

iPhone 7 Feature Cuts Mount

Meanwhile the eagle eyed will spot this isn’t the first time Apple has supposedly scaled back ambitions for the iPhone 7. Breaking from tradition, Apple is widely thought to have ditched a new design for the iPhone 7, instead sticking with the same chassis as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S.

Meanwhile, despite controversially removing the headphone jack, it appears Apple has not used the internal space this saves too much obvious effect with minimal battery life gains and tentative plans for a second speaker also pulled.

In fact famously accurate KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has claimed the iPhone 7 will not have “many attractive selling points”.

Bigger Apple Concerns

All of which has me worried.

Yes Apple suffered its first major iPhone sales decline last month, but it still made millions. Instead my issue is with Apple’s growing practice of fragmenting its hardware innovations.

Think about it for a minute. On the software side, iOS is lauded for its lack of fragmentation compared to Android but equally key is the major advantage of hardware unity as well. Features like Touch ID gain traction as Apple included it in all iOS devices ensuring developer support, while Android struggles to get anything like the same unity between manufacturers.

But right now Apple’s strategy is faltering.

For example, the company introduced 3D Touch on the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, but left it out the iPhone SE and iPad Pro range making it a curiosity rather than a key differentiator to rivals. Similarity the Smart Connector now looks marooned on the iPad Pro range when it should be spread liberally across all Apple hardware to encourage user adoption.

What could be fuelling this? Is the so-called ‘All glass’ iPhone 8 the real priority? At this point it’s impossible to say. I’d advise staying calm for now. After all there is still plenty of time for Apple to pull out some surprises and wow us with the iPhone 7.

But right now, it’s not looking great…
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