We’re probably another six months or so away from seeing Apple’s new iPhone for 2016, but that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from churning out reports about the 2017 iPhone.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued a new note with alleged information about the 2017 iPhone. Kuo, who has accurately leaked info about unannounced iPhones in the past, suggests that the 2017 iPhone will have an iPhone 4-style design with glass on its front and back and metal on its sides. However, the device isn’t expected to look exactly like an iPhone 4, as it’ll reportedly have a “completely new form factor design” that offers curved glass on its front and back, more narrow bezels and a more comfortable grip.
Along with this new design, Apple will allegedly include a 5.8-inch AMOLED display (the iPhone 6s Plus has a 5.5-inch LCD screen). Thanks to the new design and thinner bezels, though, the body will reportedly be smaller than the iPhone 6s Plus even though it’d have a larger screen. Apple could still offer the 4.7-inch iPhone size, as well.
Rounding out the iPhone 2017’s rumored feature set is wireless charging support. A recent report suggested that Apple is working on a long distance wireless charging feature that could debut as soon as 2017, but Kuo’s report doesn’t specify if this feature will be included in the 2017 iPhone or not.
It’s worth noting that the iPhone 2017 is still pretty far away at this point, so even if Apple is considering a device like the one described in today’s report, it could change its mind. It could also switch up the tick-tock strategy that Apple has employed with most of its past iPhones, offering a new design — which is expected in 2016 — and then reuse the design in an S device the following year. It’s not like Apple is being forced to stick to a tick-tock hardware schedule, though, so it certainly could do something like another iPhone 6-style phone in 2016 — which would fit with recent rumors — and an all-new model in 2017.
What do you make of today’s report? Would you like to see an iPhone like the one described above?