iPhone 7 Plus case bets on a dual-camera design
A Chinese retailer lists a phone case with an extra-wide camera slot in expectation of Apple's iPhone 7 plans.
This case is betting the iPhone 7 Plus will come with dual cameras.
The iPhone 7 Plus hasn't even been announced yet, but you can already order a case meant to fit it, with a slot spacious enough for two cameras.
Chinese online retail site Oppomart lists cases for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, the phones that Apple is expected to launch in September. Call this a clue, if you will: A picture of the case for the iPhone 7 Plus, up for preorder for $10 and due to ship in June, shows a wide slot on the backside from which dual, side-by-side cameras peek out.
Apple could use some distinctive features in the next upgrade to its phone lineup to help boost sales. In the first quarter of this year, the company suffered its first-ever drop in iPhone sales, likely because last year's iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus didn't possess the kind of must-have features that get consumers lining up in droves.
Reports have surfaced over the past several months that this year's 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus would sport two cameras as an upgrade from the traditional single-camera design. The 4.7-inch iPhone 7 would still use a single camera. This information is firmly in the rumor stage, since Apple has yet to say anything about what a next edition of the iPhone might look like. However, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who's often on the money with Apple predictions, said in January that the iPhone 7 Plus would adopt a dual camera.
A dual-camera system would snap pictures with both lenses and then combine the results to produce higher-resolution photos. One 12-megapixel lens, Kuo said, would be a wide-angle version equipped with optical image stabilization to offer higher-quality photos. The other 12-megapixel lens would come with an optical zoom that can magnify an image by up to three times.
The iPhone 7 Plus case served up by Oppomart doesn't reveal anything about the technology behind the purported dual-camera setup. The description simply lists the case as made of silicone with a shock-adsorbing rubber edge and cutout openings for easy access to all ports.
Apple declined CNET's request for comment.