iPhone 7 release date, price, specs rumors: What to expect in Apple 's next phone

New York: While Apple's iPhone 6S has been in market for only a few months, the rumor mill is already buzzing with rumors about iPhone 7 release date, price and specs.

Cupertino-based tech giant, Apple, is expected to increase the performance of the mobile processor in its next smartphone, the iPhone 7, with the addition of six cores. In theory, multiple processor cores allow a device to handle more commands and data simultaneously. But practically, it's one of many factors that can affect a device's performance.

The iPhone 7 is likely to be thinner resembling the 6.1 mm iPod Touch, as per a research note by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. To facilitate a thinner case, Apple may entirely discard the 3.5 mm headphone port. In place of the standard port, wired headsets will likely connect through the Lightning port of the iPhone.

Making up for the lack of a headphone jack, Apple may instead include a set of Bluetooth wireless earbuds with its iPhone 7, according to 9to5Mac.

With the iPhone 7, Apple could bump the RAM to 3GB, according to a note from Kuo accessed by AppleInsider in November. It is also unclear whether Apple will increase the base storage of the iPhone up from the 16GB found on present models.

Apple is also looking to improve water resistance and dust resistant features with the new iPhone, according to Macotakara. Alternatively, Apple is also working on ways to remove moisture from a smartphone's case using its speaker ports, as per a patent application published in November.

Apple's patent applications reveal that it's experimenting with the idea of adding wireless charging to its smartphones. Apple could potentially use the technology released by Qualcomm, which allows wireless charging through metal smartphone cases.

If Apple goes by the trend of previous releases, fans can expect a release sometime in the second half of 2016. But before that, Apple is also expected to launch a 4-inch smartphone in March, dubbed the "iPhone 6C."

Source: iPhone 7 release date, price, specs rumors: What to expect in Apple 's next phone