A woman looks at the screen of her mobile phone in front of an Apple logo outside its store in downtown Shanghai September 10, 2013.
A woman looks at the screen of her mobile phone in front of an Apple logo outside its store in downtown Shanghai September 10, 2013. Reuters

Apple fans can forget about the iPhone 6S release date as the tech giant will reportedly skip the S phase this year and go right ahead with the more exciting iPhone 7. And the next iPhone is nearly confirmed to include Force Touch sensor, an analyst said.

The year 2015 could very well mark the scrapping of the S period in Apple’s iPhone release cycle as Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities made a bold prediction in his latest research note, picked up first by ValueWalk.com, that instead of the iPhone 6S fans will get a hold of the iPhone 7 later in the year. The device, like the iPhone 6 before it, will represent a major overhaul – inside and out, Kuo stressed.

Force Touch on the next iPhone

The iPhone 7 will bump off the iPhone 6S in order for Apple to pack its flagship device with Force Touch technology, which the tech is introducing shortly via the Apple Watch. It appears too that the specific Force Touch flavour that the next iPhone will showcase is slightly complicated that the 6S will not be able to accommodate it.

“Our understanding of the technology is that producing a transparent Force Touch sensor is more difficult,” Value Walk quoted the well-known Apple Watcher as saying in his research note. “The challenge is how to reduce signal interference from in-cell touch panel,” he further explained.

The best answer to this problem is a hardware redesign of the upcoming iPhone, leading Kuo to believe that Apple will expedite the iPhone 7 arrival, which is not expected until 2016. He further noted that more changes concerning the Force Touch technology will be implemented in time for the iPhone 7 sequel next year.

iPhone camera with optical zoom

Another rumoured killer feature lined up for the 2015 iPhone is optical zoom capability for its main camera, which will be made possible by equipping the smartphone rear shooter with dual-lens. The same component is likely to be supplied by Japanese electronics giant Sony to Apple as the former was responsible for the CMOS camera sensor chips that made their way to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in late 2014.

For this year’s iPhone, it looked like that Sony is preparing early as the company plans to spend some $376 million to increase its 2015 CMOS sensor output, Apple Insider said in a new report. The Japan-based Apple partner is reportedly earmarking close to $900 million for the expansion of its CMOS production.

Apart from the dual-lens feature, which will bump up the iPhone 7 (or 6S) camera near the DSLR-class quality, the next iPhone is expected to upgrade from its current 8MP shooter with faster lens and enhanced optical image stabilisation or OIS. Release date of the Apple flagship device is pegged between September and October 2015.

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