Technology Odds–Apple iPhone 7 Design Proposition Bets
Last week we took a look at some proposition bet odds related to US sales of the forthcoming iPhone 7. Now, we’ll look at the design of the phone and post some proposition bet odds on the features it will–or won’t–have.
To read much of the technology press you’d think that the future viability of Apple is riding on the release of the iPhone 7. While the iPhone 6 and 6S didn’t exactly break any new ground technologically or in terms of design the company moved a lot of units. In fact, every iPhone release has sold more on ‘opening weekend’ than the previous release. Apple would be thrilled if the iPhone 7 sells as well as previous versions with a slight ‘opening weekend’ gain they can trumpet in a press release.
A big opening weekend has become part of the iPhone mystique. The three original iPhone models (the iPhone, the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS) sold around a million units each opening weekend. The iPhone 4 was released in 2010 selling 1.4 million units opening weekend and starting the trend of each new version outselling the previous. The iPhone 4S sold 4 million units opening weekend. The iPhone 5 sold 5 million units opening weekend.The iPhone 5S and 5C–almost doubled the opening weekend sales of its predecessor selling 9 million units in 2013 The most recent releases will set the benchmark for the iPhone 7 sales–the iPhone 6 sold 10 million units opening weekend and the most recent release–the iPhone 6S and 6S plus–sold 13 million opening week.
The significant takeaway from these numbers? Despite the breathless hype from the tech media it’s not like the recent releases have been a flop. To the contrary–the recent releases have sold so well that Apple has to walk a fine line between innovation and ‘fixing what ain’t broken’. Impressing the tech media is fine and good but as long as Apple ‘moves product’ they wont’ worry too much about that. Besides, the word around the campfire is that the *really* innovative iPhone won’t be released until 2017.
APPLE IPHONE 7 DESIGN ODDS
RULES: ALL PHONES MUST BE ANNOUNCED BY APPLE AT THEIR SEPTEMBER IPHONE 7 EVENT. IF DIFFERENT FEATURES ARE AVAILABLE ON DIFFERENT MODELS ALL BETS ON THOSE FEATURES ARE ‘NO ACTION’
The first prop bet involves the number of different models of the iPhone 7 that Apple will release:
UNDER 2.5 DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE IPHONE 7 -600
OVER 2.5 DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE IPHONE 7 +450
The working plan until recently was for 3 different versions of the iPhone 7–the iPhone 7 (base model), the iPhone 7 Plus and the iPhone 7 Pro. Reports suggest that Apple has killed off the largest of the three models, the iPhone 7 Pro. There’s still some conflicting information about the number of phones to be released. Some reports suggest that the original plan was to release four phones and now they’ll release three. That sounds unlikely. The most reasonable theory is that the iPhone 7 Pro was a true ‘no compromise flagship model’ and that was killed off.
The next few props address the actual design of the phone:
WILL THE IPHONE 7 HAVE A 3.5 MM HEADPHONE JACK
YES, IT WILL HAVE A 3.5 MM HEADPHONE JACK +250
NO, IT WILL NOT HAVE A 3.5 MM HEADPHONE JACK -300
This has been the rumor for awhile and there’s every indication that Apple will kill off the 3.5 MM headphone jack in the iPhone 7. This will no doubt make many people extremely unhappy since the jack is used not only for headphones but for automotive aux cables and other peripherals including led lights for photography and the Square credit card reader. The idea is for people to use wireless Bluetooth headphones/speakers or headphones that attach through the lightning connector. Plus there are always adapters. The rationale apparently is that without the 3.5 MM jack Apple was able to make the phone thinner.
There’s been some pre-emptive blowback including from none other than Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak:
“If it’s missing the 3.5mm earphone jack, that’s going to tick off a lot of people. I have cars where you can plug in the music, or go through Bluetooth, and Bluetooth just sounds so flat for the same music”.
WILL THE IPHONE 7 HAVE TWO REAR CAMERA LENSES?
YES, TWO OR MORE REAR CAMERA LENSES -210
NO, ONE REAR CAMERA LENS +175
There have been a number of conflicting reports on the ‘two lens’ camera upgrade. At one point, it had been suggested that only the top of the line model–the now canceled (allegedly) iPhone 7 Pro–would get the two lens treatment. More recent reports indicate that they’ll come to all iPhone 7 models.
WILL ALL IPHONE 7 MODELS BE THE SAME SIZE?
YES, THEY’LL ALL BE IDENTICALLY SIZED +235
NO, THEY’LL BE AVAILABLE IN DIFFERENT SIZES -275
Once again, the cancelled (?) iPhone 7 Pro could be the difference maker. Some reports have suggested that it was the ‘larger model’ with the rest of the line being the same size. Other reports suggest that the base model will be right around 4.7 inches, or roughly the size of the old iPhone 4. Apple did well releasing the iPhone 6 and 6S in different sizes and are very likely to do the same thing here.
Stay tuned for more iPhone 7 coverage and betting odds!