Apple might as well just give up on coming out with an iPhone 6S or iPhone 7 after that, uh, devastating quarterly report in which it beat analysts’ estimates, saw earnings rise 38% and boasted of market share gains – only to see its stock price plummet. But let’s assume they’re going to keep plugging ahead.

Solar power to the rescue

In of the most breathless posts we’ve come across in some time, the Express out of the UK reports that “The Apple iPhone 7 might NEVER need to be recharged” (their CAPITALIZATION). The secret sauce will be sub-touchscreen solar power technology, for which Apple just received a patent.

Though by the end of this brief post, the reporter is already tamping down our expectations, noting that the patent is vague, that such technology is really not very new and that you just might not want to toss that Lightning cable quite yet.

MNR Daily also piled on this news bit, and is hopeful that the technology could address battery life shortcomings in the iPhone and Apple Watch. Though does note that even if solar charging isn’t just around the corner, power-saving advances will be available in iOS 9 for the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus later this year.

Speaking of the iPhone 6S…

Slashgear points to a Nowhereelse.fr post about front panels being readied for the iPhone 6S, as evidence that Apple is definitely planning to introduce new iPhones this fall. Except it does note that the panels are really the same size as those of the iPhone 6, so the Nowhereelse.fr photos don’t really prove much of anything.

Back to the iPhone 7

Slashgear, citing an Apple patent filing, reports that the iPhone 7 could actually look more like the iPhone 4 than the iPhone 6.

Today we’re having a peek at the possibility that the iPhone 7 could return to its slightly more retro “4” roots in look and feel. A refined look that worries more about fashionability than it does about falling to the ground, breaking into a million pieces. We’re talking about glass on the back of this next iPhone, not just sides that are (once again) flat.

The patent involves techniques for cutting into “a highly reflective and smooth surface,” presumably on an iPhone.

Latest iPhone 7 concept

Ivo Maric and Tomislay Rastovac dropped their slick iPhone 7 concept design onto the Internet this week via YouTube, showing off a metal frame, smooth sapphire glass, 16mp camera, syncing via a new “Apple Dock” and wireless charging capabilities.

via: networkworld