New iPhone 7 Plus photos suggest Smart Connector isn’t dead

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iPhone 7 Plus with Smart Connector
Will the Smart Connector be a nice surprise this September?
Photo: Weibo

New photos purported to show the iPhone 7 Plus suggest Apple hasn’t scrapped plans to introduce the Smart Connector after all. The images also reveal another surprising change none of us were expecting.

The iPhone 7 Plus seen in these images looks just like the one we’ve seen multiple times before: It’s basically an iPhone 6s Plus with redesigned antenna bands and a dual-lens camera. It has the same physical home button we’re used to, and the same Apple logo.

It also has cutouts for a Smart Connector, which could be ported from the iPad Pro to pave the way for new accessories. The pins would allow for battery cases that don’t need access to the Lightning port, physical keyboards and more.

A May report claimed Apple had scrapped plans to bring the Smart Connector to the iPhone this year. Sources said the connector would arrive later, but the plan had been “shelved” for the iPhone 7 series. These photos suggest that might not be the case after all.

They also tell us that a headphone jack won’t be the only thing missing from the iPhone 7 Plus. Look closely and you’ll notice there’s no physical mute switch, either.

iPhone 7 Plus no mute switch
Where’s the mute switch, Apple?!
Photo: Weibo

Apple has already removed the mute switch from its latest iPads, but it’s a feature that the vast majority of iPhone fans love to have. Taking it away would surely upset a lot of people, then — possibly even more so than removing the headphone jack.

We can’t confirm these photos are genuine, so it might be a good idea to take them with a pinch of salt for now. They certainly look convincing, but they could depict an early prototype that has since been revised, or even a total fake built by a third party.

Don’t get your hopes up for a Smart Connector, then — and certainly don’t worry about losing the mute switch just yet.

Source: Weibo

Via: 9to5Mac

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