2016 iPhone

Two '2016 iPhone' stories September 2015 - January 2016

Is this the iPhone 6c? Video purportedly shows new 4-inch iPhone, looks just like an iPhone 6s

Apple is currently expected to hold an event in March to announce a slew of new products, notably including a new addition to the iPhone lineup. The 4-inch iPhone is expected to be released by April, and MIC Gadget claims to have a hands-on with new unreleased iPhone straight from the Foxconn factory. Unsurprisingly, the purported new ‘iPhone 6c‘ looks just like an iPhone 6s, but smaller. The latest rumors indicate it will also have similar internals, featuring Apple A9 SoC and NFC for Apple Pay.

From our iPhone 6c mockup gallery last month

The validity of the video cannot be confirmed. The ratios of the speaker holes is very similar to the 4.7 inch phone so it’s not 100% that this phone is actually smaller (perhaps the camera guy has big hands). The video also does not include a comparison with other iPhones to confirm the relative size, but they claim it is legit and MIC Gadget has a reasonable history of obtaining device hands-on ahead of time. Watch the 40 second clip and decide for yourself, after the break …

Expand
Expanding
Close

Sketchy report: Apple may plan a return to glass-on-glass touchscreens for bezel-free iPhone next year

A Digitimes report, which seems to be drawing a lot of conclusions from minimal information, suggests that Apple may be planning a return to glass-on-glass touchscreens for next year’s iPhones. Apple used so-called G/G technology for its early iPhones, switching to in-cell tech for the iPhone 5 onward.

The short piece suggests that the move is mostly motivated by supply constraints for higher-resolution in-cell displays, but also suggests that the rumored plan could be geared towards bezel-free displays. Glass suppliers Corning and Asahi are said to have sent samples to Apple.

G/G touch panels may also help Apple develop bezel-free smartphones as in-cell touch panels reportedly are struggling with touch sensitivity on the edges.

The reasoning here appears to be that as touch sensors are limited to the size of the display, this can result in reduced sensitivity at the edges. G/G displays allow the sensor layer to extend beyond the edges of the display, making them more suitable for edge-to-edge glass designs.

However, Apple originally made the switch to in-cell touchscreens as they allow displays to be thinner and lighter. For now, we’re filing this one under ‘interesting but unsubstantiated rumor.’