Apple Inc. is busy releasing its current flagships iPhone 6s and 6s Plus to other countries but talks about its next bigger flagship iPhone 7 Plus in the next fall are already starting to surface.
Published as a research note on Tuesday was KGI Securities Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo's recent details from Apple suppliers, which AppleInsider managed to have a copy.
Kuo has a good track record when it comes to predicting the future products of the Cupertino-based iPhone maker.
His predictions for this year's flagships are correct, such as the thicker iPhone 6s that comes with the Force Touch input and Series 7000 aluminum, and the bigger iPad Pro with pressure-sensitive pen. In April, he correctly predicted that the company would not launch a new 4-inch iPhone.
It is expected that the bigger next generation Apple Inc. iPhone 7s Plus will feature more RAM, like 3GB with the next-generation A10 chipset. The analyst revealed that the smaller 4.7-inch iPhone 7 will retain its 2GB RAM like the iPhone 6s, but the larger flagship will have another gigabyte and greater performance.
Both devices will have Apple's mobile processor architecture, most likely known as the A10 Central Processing Unit. Kuo also expects a launch of a 4-inch metal handset with an A9 chip in early 2016.
In 2014, Apple released the iPhone 6 Plus with 1GB RAM. Last September the iPhone 6s Plus doubles the RAM, and next year's iPhone Plus will have another gigabyte of memory.
Aside from being bigger flagship versions, another big difference of the "Plus" models are enhanced shooters. Both the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus and 6s Plus boast hardware optical image stabilization of its cameras, something that is not present in the smaller 4.7-inch models.
September 2016 is still the debut date, as the company's usual pattern for its yearly release. Apple Inc.'s iPhone 7 Plus will likely have a revamped external design, but Kuo did not give the details.
However, in September, he already said that the next iPhone is on track to be the thinnest iPhone as next year will see a handset as thin as 6mm, which AppleInsider noted, is thinner than iPad Air 2 and iPod Touch.
The Week reckoned that reviewers criticized the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus last year as they appeared fragile in bending tests dubbed as "bendgate" but that did not stop the high demand for the devices.
