The iPhone 7 will be with us in less than a week. We preview its design, features and specs, and consider whether 2016's iPhone 7 - perhaps the most important smartphone launch in Apple's history - is the device to set Apple back on the path to riches and glory, or just another iPhone

iPhone 7 preview | iPhone 7 specs, design, price, features previewed & rated

Welcome to our iPhone 7 preview, as we count down to the iPhone 7 launch less than a week from now. If you'd like to read about the bigger-screen iPhone 7 Plus, take a look at our iPhone 7 Plus preview. This article will turn into our iPhone 7 review when the product launches on 7 September, so check back for regular updates.

It's September, which means it's time for a new iPhone. The iPhone 7, to be precise. (Well, we're almost sure that'll be the name - some pundits predict another riff on the iPhone 6 branding next month, with the full iPhone 7 update in 2017… but we don't subscribe to that theory.)

In our iPhone 7 preview, we look at the available evidence - the leaked photos and components, the insider sources and expert predictions - to weigh up the device's design, features and likely tech specs. And we consider whether 2016's iPhone 7 - perhaps the most important smartphone launch in Apple's history - is the device to set Apple back on the path to riches and glory, or just another iPhone.

If you're more interested in the current iPhone range, take a look at our iPhone buying guide 2016.

Read next: iPhone 7 rumours | iPhone 7 Plus rumours | iPhone 7 Pro rumours

iPhone 7 preview: Design & build quality

Apple usually keeps approximately the same design for two generations of the iPhone (as it did with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s, for example), before unveiling a more major physical redesign on the next 'full number' update. That's why we'd expect the iPhone 7 to be fundamentally different in look and design to the two generations of iPhone that precede it.

(A recurrent theory in the run-up to the iPhone 7 launch has been that we're about to see the third model in a row based on the iPhone 6 design, and that we'll have to wait until 2017 for the major redesign. This can't be ruled out, but plateauing iPhone salessuggest that consumers are holding out for something more radical. We hope and believe that Apple has something a bit more interesting up its sleeve.)

It's believed that the updated design will see the visible antenna bands removed, and may also involve the flattening of the camera lens, which protruded from the rear of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.

The most consistent rumour related to the new design is that it won't feature a traditional 3.5mm headphone jack - something we consider in the next section below. If true, this development would give Apple's engineers a little elbow room to fiddle with the internals, potentially squeezing in a touch more battery capacity or a second speaker. (Although the usual twin-speaker setup we've known from pre-Pro iPads, with one either side of the Lightning port, leaves them too close together to get any real benefit in terms of stereo sound.)

Some have suggested that removing the headphone port would allow the iPhone 7 to be thinner than its predecessors, although it's also been pointed out that the iPod touch is thinner than the iPhone 6s and does have a headphone port.

There have been the usual out-there rumours - often based on patent applications that won't bear fruit for years if at all - but we don't expect the iPhone 7 to include an Apple Watch-style rotating control dial, for example.

Headphone port… gone?

Multiple insider sources quoted by a wide range of publications and supported by various leaks agree that the iPhone 7 won't have a headphone port. We don't know this for sure, but it's perhaps the most consistently repeated rumour we've known in the lead up to an iPhone launch.

And it's not popular, either. For understandable reasons: people already own headphones, in most cases based on the 3.5mm standard and in some cases spectacularly expensive, and they don't appreciate having to buy a new set or a costly and easy-to-lose adaptor that has to be lugged around everywhere with one's iPhone.

If there isn't a headphone port on the iPhone 7, there's going to be a lot of demand for three things: Lightning headphones, Bluetooth headphones, and Bluetooth speakers.

Apple could sugar the pill somewhat by bundling the adaptor with the phone at no extra cost, as some have predicted that it might, and this may be one of those classic Apple moves where it drops support for a tech standard just before it becomes irrelevant - and obviously helping it to do so in the process. In most cases these moves have turned out to be sensible in retrospect, with the majority of users gradually realising that they maybe didn't need that optical drive after all.

We may not know if this is a wise move or not until several months after the launch, when we've all had a chance to get used to the arrangement, but right now it's hard to shake the feeling that more would be lost than gained by removing the headphone port.

Read more: New Apple headphones rumours

Home button… gone?

The other theory that's cropped up a lot over the past year relates to the home button: namely, that it's either going to be overhauled or removed entirely. There's less evidence for this than for the headphone-ectomy, but it does seem relatively plausible.

Piper Jaffrey analyst Gene Munster has suggested that the iPhone 7 won't have a Home button, thanks to the new 3D Touch technology that Apple introduced with the iPhone 6s. He thinks that the new tech provides Apple with a way to eliminate the home button - Apple has been investigating ways to build the Touch ID sensor into the screen itself - and using the freed-up space to make the screen bigger or the device smaller.

It's possible instead that Apple will keep the Home button but equip it with the same haptic technology present in the trackpad on current MacBook models - in other words, it would 'buzz' against your fingertip in such a way as to simulate a downward press, while in actual fact not moving at all. Two of the four iPhones that your previewer has owned over the years have suffered Home button failure - it's clearly less of an issue these days than in the iPhone 5 era, admittedly - so reducing the moving parts in this area may lead to improved reliability. (For more on the haptic Force Touch trackpad, read 13 ways to use Force Touch on the new MacBook.)

iPhone 7 preview: Features

What new features can we expect from the iPhone 7?

Smart connector

Leaked images, schematics and components of the iPhone 7 hint that it will gain a three-point Smart Connector, much like the 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch versions of the iPad Pro. (Unlike those devices, however, which both have the Smart Connector on the lefthand edge when using them in portrait orientation, the iPhone 7 is expected to accommodate it near the bottom of the rear surface.)

A Smart Connector-equipped iPhone 7 would presumably be intended for use with charging/speaker docks and possibly even keyboards, although it's hard to imagine a particularly productive working setup based on a 4.7-inch screen. You can read about Apple's Smart Keyboard, which uses the Smart Connector on the iPad Pro, in ourSmart Keyboard review.

iPhone 7 new features: Wireless charging

It's a perennial rumour for upcoming Apple devices, but wireless charging could be a reality this time around: it didn't arrive with the iPhone 6s as some had predicted, but was introduced to the Apple Watch as inductive charging.

As iMore points out, inductive charging hasn't been practical for the iPhone in previous years because the technology available at the time didn't work through an aluminium backplate (the Apple Watch, which does offer wireless charging, has a ceramic back). But this could all change. In July 2015 Qualcomm announced wireless charging tech that does work through metal. This came too late for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, but the technology may appear in a subsequent generation of Apple smartphone.

Read more: How to wirelessly charge an iPhone

iPhone 7 new features: Waterproofing

It's been claimed on the Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo that Apple is testing out waterproof designs for the iPhone 7. What we're talking here is proper official waterproofing, since the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are actually pretty good at dealing with submersion, as some brave early buyers have discovered; Apple evidently didn't feel quite confident enough about this to name it as a new feature. It's possible that the iPhone 7, then, will be announced as Apple's first officially waterproof phone.

iPhone 7 preview: Screen

The iPhone 7, as the successor to the iPhone 6s, will have a mid-size screen - most likely remaining at the 4.7-inch diagonal measurement that proved so popular when the iPhone 6 launched.

Apple has fallen behind some of its smartphone rivals on screen resolution, so it's possible that we'll see some upgrades there; but Apple tends not to focus on specs. And screen resolution beyond a certain point is overkill, because the human eye has long since stopped being able to make out the individual pixels. Still, we feel that Apple hasn't quite reached that point yet.

iPhone 7 preview: Camera

It's widely expected that the iPhone 7 Plus will come with a dual-lens camera setup on the back, but that there will be no such upgrade for the iPhone 7. This broadly fits with Apple's past behaviour, since the company generally likes to set apart its top-of-the-line phone with at least one feature that isn't available on any other - and it's often something in the photographic line, such as optical image stabilisation. But this would be the first time a Plus-branded iPhone has had such a conspicuous physical advantage over its smaller cousin.

Nevertheless, we're expecting big things from the iPhone 7's camera, including a megapixel bump and maybe an optical zoom to provide DSLR-quality images. But it could get more interesting than that.

A while back Apple spent $20m on a company called LinX, which makes 3D camera sensors, and so far it hasn't used the technology in any of its products. LinX's cameras are tiny, but the company claims they are a match for digital SLR cameras in performance terms. And their depth-sensing capabilities make them ideal for facial recognition and 3D-scanning, as well as post-shot refocusing. The possibility of apps that translate 3D scans into plans for 3D printers is highly appealing.

iPhone 7 preview: Price & release date

The iPhone 7 will be unveiled - and go on sale - in September 2016. We're pretty much certain that the announcement event will take place on 7 September - Apple has sent out invitations (see below) to a press event on that date, at 6pm UK time - and 16 September looks nailed on for the onsale launch.

As usual, Apple hasn't explicitly given anything away with its invitation - in theory this could be an event to unveil something else entirely, although we'd be extraordinarily surprised if there isn't a new iPhone to gawp at - but our resident Sherlock Holmes has scanned for clues in a separate article: Apple's iPhone 7 event invitation decoded.

And how much will the iPhone 7 cost? Apple usually launches its new iPhones at the same price as their predecessors (which, if they remain on sale, get a price cut). We'd therefore expect the iPhone 7 to cost £539, £619 and £699 for the three storage allocations respectively. The current generation of iPhones come with 16GB, 64GB or 128GB, but these tiers may be moved up for the iPhone 7. Regardless if this, we expect the entry point to be £539 or close to that.

The iPhone 7 will be available through Apple's online store.

Colour options

The iPhone 7 will most likely be available in gold, silver, Space Grey (black) and Rose Gold (pink). But some pundits think Apple is going to offer something new on the colour front, with a Deep Blue option added to the mix (or possibly - and, we'd imagine, controversially - replacing Space Grey).

Mockup illustration by Martin Hajek

Blue is apparently a popular choice among Samsung's phone customers, but getting rid of the classic black finish? We're not sure about that.

More conservatively, others predict that Apple will replace Space Grey, not with Deep Blue but with 'Space Black' - which as far as we're concerned would essentially be a rebranding exercise to bring it in line with the Apple Watch.

iPhone 7 preview: Poll - will you buy the iPhone 7?

We've almost finished our iPhone 7 preview, but we'd love to hear your views. Do you plan to buy an iPhone 7?