Fans hoping Apple will bring the new Smart Connector from the iPad Pro lineup over to iPhone 7 may be in for some disappointment this fall.
The iPhone 7 won’t feature a Smart Connector, according to a new report from Asia that claims Apple has shelved the idea for now.
Apple is under pressure to deliver a big hit with the iPhone 7, which is presumably coming this fall. While recent iPhone sales have been strong, the numbers have fallen from previous highs — and so has Apple’s stock price as a result.
The small-yet-powerful iPhone SE might be a bigger hit than Apple expected, but it hasn’t been enough to assuage investors’ fears of “peak iPhone.” Slowing iPhone sales have fueled an AAPL losing streak in the past week or so.
iPhone 7 Smart Connector? Maybe …
Photo: Bastille Post
To help combat the falling stock price, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently promised that future iPhones will deliver killer features you haven’t even dreamed of yet. While adding a Smart Connector wouldn’t necessarily fulfill that promise, who knows how Apple might make use of the next-gen port on an iPhone?
Despite the lingering rumor that the iPhone 7 would come with a Smart Connector, it still isn’t clear what purpose the port would serve.
Some have suggested it could be used for charging while the Lightning port is used by headphones or other accessories. Mac Otakara suggests Apple was considering adding the Smart Connector this year, but ultimately decided to drop it.
It’s also unclear if Apple was ever truly considering adding a Smart Connector in the first place. An alleged leaked rear shell of the iPhone 7 appeared to show three small connector dots on the back of the upcoming device, but there haven’t been any other substantive rumors to back up the claim.
iPhone 7 rumors and leaks
The iPhone 7 is expected to feature a slightly tweaked body design with fewer unsightly antenna lines.
Apple might kill the headphone jack on the device while adding a dual-lens camera, a Liquid Metal home button, waterproofing, faster processor and more.
Apple isn’t expected to unveil the iPhone 7 until September.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
2 responses to “Apple may have scrapped a big iPhone 7 feature”
Let’s clear something up: “Investors” are gamblers.
They do not care about the long term life of Apple or any other company they’ve invested in. They are only interested in the short term financial gains they can scrape from the company’s stock. They buy and sell at a whim based on rumors, speculation and “analyst” predictions. Just like a gambler in Vegas pops from one slot machine to another, they try to maximize their short term profits by playing multiple machines. Investors are panicky, nervous and jump at shadows. Like gamblers and junkies, they’re always on the lookout to score another windfall or fix, with little care and concern about the future. If investors thought they could profit by killing off Apple as a company, they’d do it. Investors have no loyalty and no personal stake in the companies they invest in.
Investors make it possible for new companies to gather the cash they need to get started, and that’s a good thing. But for Apple to continue to have stock means that these gambler/junkies can dramatically affect the life of the company by their whims.
So Apple has had a minor slowdown in sales, and investors go into screaming PANIC — rumors start flowing, analysts (as they always do) predict Apple’s decline and death — yet Apple is STILL one of the most outrageously profitable companies in the world, even with a slightly down “bad quarter”. They will recover and continue to be outrageously profitable for many years to come, but most investors don’t care. They just need another short term fix.
You make a good point, but I would also add that’s what has been going on in the minds of some investors is that the death of Steve Jobs has put the creative mindset and leadership of the company at risk the past five years. People have recognized that Samsung and others have largely caught up with Apple on almost all fronts. The idea that it’s all investors who want short term gain just isn’t fully accurate. Bigger phone, Siri, TouchID, 3D Touch, while they may be vital attributes in 5+ years, were simply rolled out as incredibly imperfect products, and people are getting nervous. I think it’s only fair to be concerned about the future of Apple while still respecting the company.