First case leaks of the iPhone 7 surfaces; no headphone jack and shaped like the 6s

It has begun. The first images of purported iPhone 7 case leaks have started to appear online today. If true, the new iPhone will look very similar to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 with curved corners and a flat back. Notably, this case does not include a hole for a 3.5 mm headphone jack — reinforcing rumors that Apple will drop it in favor of Bluetooth or Lightning headphones.

On the bottom of the phone, it appears to feature only a Lightning port surrounded by two equal-width speaker grilles, which could mean the phone will include some kind of stereo sound output. Aside from the lack of a headphone port, it’s hard to see any other major differences from the case leak. More images after the break, via @OnLeaks …

It would generally be expected that the iPhone 7 feature more significant design changes, as is usual with Apple’s tick-tock cycle. Unfortunately, this case does not help paint a better picture than ‘iPhone 6s with no headphone jack’. Questions about thinness also cannot be answered, as there are no written dimensions.

Previous iPhone 7 rumors have indicated that it will largely maintain the existing chassis style, perhaps slightly slimmer in profile. The horizontal antenna lines on the back of the phone have been reportedly removed for iPhone 7, although this kind of information simply cannot be corroborated by a case leak by its very nature.

The hole for the rear camera may appear enlarged, but it’s unlikely to point to a dual camera feature for iPhone 7 on its own. That opening in the case has to be big enough for the camera and LED flash. This is also a case for the 4.7 inch iPhone — some rumors had indicated that the dual-camera feature would be exclusive to the 5.5 inch ‘iPhone 7 Pro’ model only. It has also been suggested that the iPhone 7 rear camera will be flush with the body, not protruding like current iPhone generation. Again, the openings in this purported case does not really indicate either way.

As always, Chinese case leaks need to be approached with some skepticism. It’s still many months off from when the iPhone 7 goes into production, so there’s a considerable chance that the final phone will look very different to these early leaks from anonymous case manufacturers. Still, case leaks have been reasonably accurate in the past and they are generally close enough to be worthy of discussion.