Apple is at CES 2016 in Las Vegas, but the company isn’t talking about anything coming in 2016. We’ve seen a few employees walking with Apple badges on the show floor, but the real catchy details come from companies that literally survived their sales. iPhone.
Two such companies are already planning an iPhone 7 without a 3.5mm headphone jack, through accessories that will charge your iPhone even if the iPhone 7 battery is smaller, to fit the iPhone 7 battery into a thinner frame and help you enjoy better music.
The latest iPhone 7 rumors are giving serious indications that a new iPhone 7 will rely on the Lightning port for more connectivity, and many users will find it worthwhile to switch to wireless earbuds.
The 3.5mm headphone jack takes up space inside the iPhone and adds to the device’s thickness. Numerous reports from a number of sources claim that Apple will remove the headphone jack as we know it and push users to Lightning headphones or wireless Bluetooth headphones.
During CES 2016, we spoke with representatives of the two companies, who are planning for the products that are on sale today and the possibilities for the products to be released in the future. While they didn’t call it the iPhone 7, they did brief us on deals and potential upgrades for a new iPhone in 2016.
This is what the companies are planning for an iPhone 7 release date later this year.
The first time we heard of a change to prepare for the iPhone 7 came on Tuesday as we were exploring a new battery case for the iPhone 6s that charges via a Micro USB port. A popular case maker involved in Apple retail told Gotta Be Mobile that they plan to upgrade the existing case to use a lightning charger within the next year. Another representative revealed that the new case with Lightning charging is targeting the “next generation iPhone” with a possible release in late 2016.
If the company can deliver a battery case for the iPhone 7 before the end of the year, it would be a breakthrough because most companies won’t be able to deliver a high-end case for a new design on a new iPhone so quickly.
We learned that Apple will do it. allow third parties almost a year ago to do more with the Lightning port and it looks like companies are working on plans to finally do just that.
Apple already sells an iPhone 6s battery case that uses the Lightning port to charge the iPhone and the battery case. This also allows users to connect Lightning adapters for accessories and use smart charging. Competitor cases currently use a smarter Micro USB port than previous years, but still have no connectivity to Lightning ports.
Another segment of the market is planning changes to the iPhone 7 that could push more consumers towards wireless headphones. According to NPD, wireless headphone growth is set for a huge jump in market share in 2016.
A popular headphone maker told Gotta Be Mobile that if Apple kills the 3.5mm headphone jack, we could see consumer adoption speed up this year.
As we see companies that rely on iPhone sales begin to tweak their rumored plans, it’s time to start giving more credit to the changes detailed in the iPhone 7 leaks.
