Force touch
The biggest new feature believed to be in the pipeline for the iPhone 7 is the introduction of Force Touch, which is likely to have particular benefits for business users. First developed for the Apple Watch, Force Touch is a pressure-sensitive touchscreen that can distinguish between a light touch and a longer, heavier press, and react differently to each. For example, a light tap on an email will open it for reading, while heavier pressure will launch the reply screen. When this is applied across the operating system, and in productivity apps, it is likely that business users will be able to accomplish many of their regular tasks more quickly and with fewer steps. Bloomberg reports that an iPhone 7 equipped with Force Touch entered "early production" at the beginning of July.
iPhone 7 battery life
Battery life remains an Apple weak spot, and early reports about the iPhone 7 bring mixed news. Business users in particular tend to hammer their batteries, often while travelling and with unpredictable access to power sources. For them, the improved power efficiency that comes with the A9 chip won't go amiss, but nor will it provide the step change that many will have been hoping for. That would require an increase in battery capacity, which Apple seems unlikely to provide. In an interview with the Financial Times earlier this year, Ive all but ruled out compromising the aesthetics of the iPhone 6S or 7 in order to accommodate a bigger power pack. "When the issue of the frequent need to recharge the iPhone is raised," the FT says, "[Ive] answers that it's because it's so light and thin that we use it so much and therefore deplete the battery. With a bigger battery it would be heavier, more cumbersome, less 'compelling'." Business users might retort that it’s the pressing nature of their work rather than the beguiling slimness of the iPhone that leads them to check their emails, but it seems that their protests will not be heard.
Software upgrade
Apple has already released a test version of its next operating system, iOS 9, which is expected to go live when the iPhone 7 is released this autumn. It will bring with it a range of improvements likely to make the lives of power users a little bit easier, including, according to Apple's VP of software engineering, "a redesigned Notes app [that] provides great new ways to capture ideas". It is also intended to improve power management and therefore battery life – another sign that Apple is attempting to solve this problem through better use of available power rather than increased batter capacity.
Dynamic home button
The first iPhone transformed the way we interacted with smartphones, introducing the now-standard pinch to zoom and swipe to unlock gestures. According to Business Insider, the iPhone 7 could add more gestures to its arsenal, further increasing efficiency and multi-tasking capabilities. It examines a patent filed by Apple which "details an iOS home button capable of detecting various gestures along with the force of each touch. In other words, imagine Force Touch, albeit applied to the home button as opposed to the device's display."
Better front-facing camera
Although it is often dismisses as a selfie-cam, a phone's front-facing camera can be a useful business tool too – and clues embedded deep in Apple's new operating system suggest that it will get a big upgrade on the iPhone 7. Macworld reports that camera resolution will increase from 1280x960 to 1920x1080, which means that Skype and Facetime conversations with colleagues and clients will be sharper and smoother. The same source suggests that it will also be capable of recording slow-motion video, and come with a flash, but those new features are perhaps of less interest to business users.
iPhone 7 performance upgrade
The iPhone 7 will come with a new processor, likely to be called the A9, which will bring improved performance. TechRadar says the new chip will be "15% smaller, 20% more powerful and 35% more power efficient than the Apple A8 processor found in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus". The increased speed will, as ever, be welcome, but for many the improved power-management will be the more useful development…
iPad upgrade
iOS 9 will also been pushed to the iPad, on which it will enable some potentially significant productivity gains. As well as improvements to the mapping app, it will also enable split screen multi-tasking, allowing you to run more than one app at once and switch seamlessly between the two. The new operating system will also introduce a new keypad for the iPhone, designed to make long-form text input more efficient.
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