Recently Awarded Patent Suggests Apple Highlighting Better High-Quality Speakers for iPhone 7

iPhone 7c, or iPhone 6c as it is being referred to, will also be waterproof.

Speculation that Apple is set to remove the normal jack from its next iPhone started circulating towards the end of previous year and has been increasing in intensity.

While Apple may be able to champion new technology, it’s hardly going to be popular with consumers where the headphone jack is universal, and new Apple gear (which may include Beats headphones) will be expensive and proprietary.

Will Apple Really Ditch the Headphone Jack?

08/01/2016: The iPhone 7 may be the first model to feature wireless charging, it is claimed. So if both iPhone 6s supplier’s sales are down for smartphone chips, it’s hard to see a surprise rainbow on the horizon for Apple’s iPhone 6s sales. Developing what would be by far Apple’s thinnest iPhone ever (can you hear the marketing pitch already?) could create an appreciable wow factor.

However, we could expect a similar layout with the bigger iPhone 7 Plus models (due to the bigger body) and may be two speaker grilles that actually deliver full-fledged stereo audio.

According to reports, the company will in fact introduce wireless charging in the iPhone 7. However, until now, many thought it would be the iPhone 6c while others simply stated that the Apple would skip the “6” moniker entirely and settle for releasing an iPhone 7c.

While there are a handful of audiophiles who swear by wired headphones, most everyday casual users who have an iPhone probably don’t need wired headphones and could easily get away with Bluetooth cans. This would also be in line with the rumours that the next iOS-powered smartphone will have a single Lightning port for headphones to support better-quality audio.

It would seem that a new patent has been filed and awarded to Apple, which looks as though it could be used in the iPhone 7 to improve its speakers.

The aim is to provide “high-quality audio sound output and pickup without hindering the ability to make portable electronic devices smaller and thinner”. The technology was described for the phone’s speakers and headphones. I don’t love huge screen phones that barely fit in my pocket.

If Apple plans on getting rid of the Home button at any point and extending the iPhone’s display downward, it’ll have to get rid of the headphone jack, plain and simple.

San Francisco-based designer Matt Galligan said in a post on Medium that the real reason Apple is dumping the old standard port is that it needs more screen space in future-generation iPhones.

An OLED display makes sense, but the expense alone means we probably won’t see this until an iPhone 8 in 2018 or so.

The only other female port on the iPhone is the Lightning connector, which is Apple’s own creation. “Keep the standard headphone jack”.