iPhone 7 Leak Suggests Rumored Smart Connector Will Be A No-Show This Fall

We haven’t even reached the summer yet, but iPhone 7 rumors are already starting to heat up. One of the more interesting rumors hitting the internet over the past few weeks suggested that the iPhone 7 would feature a Smart Connector, similar to the one found on the 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros.

If you recall, the Smart Connector provides a data and power connection to accessories for the iPad Pro. For example, the iPad Pro uses its Smart Connector to communicate with the Apple-branded Smart Keyboard and other third-party accessories. Having such functionality on an iPhone could open up a new avenue for innovative new accessories, including battery cases that don’t have to connect via the bottom-mounted Lighting port.

iPhone 7 left vs. iPhone 6s right - credit: bastillepost.com

However, word is coming down from Japanese site Macotakara that the Smart Connector has been nixed from the final production version of the iPhone 7. But given how secretive Apple is about its upcoming products, the original rumor could have been more wishful thinking on the part of Apple fans than something that Apple originally intended to include with the iPhone 7.

iPhone 6s Plus

Two rumors, however, the won’t go away are that the iPhone 7 (or at least the larger iPhone 7 Plus) will feature dual rear cameras and do away with the 3.5mm headphone jack in favor of Lightning digital audio. Regardless of what is going on behind closed doors in Cupertino, we’ll likely have to wait until September to truly see what Apple has up its sleeves.

Tim Cook has offered up very little information about the next iPhone, only telling CNBC's Jim Cramer in a Mad Money interview that “[Apple has] great innovation in the pipeline” and that “new iPhones that will incentivize you and other people that have iPhones today to upgrade to new iPhones.

"We're going to give you things that you can't live without that you just don't know that you need today.”

Apple definitely needs something to calm the nerves of investors who sent AAPL shares tumbling after its fiscal Q2 earnings were announced. Apple reported its first revenue decline in 13 years and its first ever year-over-year decline in iPhone sales.