Apple was awarded a patent in May for several new methods for using biometric technology. Most importantly, the patent enabled Apple to embed the Touch ID fingerprint sensor directly into the screen and use ultrasound imaging to help the fingerprint sensor find a match.

Samsung is rumored to be in exclusive talks with Apple about OLED supply, and could be set to ship panels as soon as 2017. LG will presumably miss out on supplying OLED screens for 2017 iPhones, but could be in a position to join the supply chain for 2018.

After a strong 2H16, TSMC's growth could slow in 2017 (JPMe 4% sales growth), due to already 100% share in iPhone 7 and lack of further customer traction at 10nm, said JP Morgan analyst Gokul Hariharan.

LG Innotek is expected to exclusively supply dual camera module to Apple's iPhone 7 Plus, which will come out in September this year.

While we know nothing official about the next iPhone -- currently expected to be called the iPhone 7 -- all rumors and leaks suggest that it's going to be a pretty mediocre upgrade. But pent-up demand for a new iPhone from the two-thirds of owners who, by the time the new iPhone launches will be running hardware that's two or more years old, might buoy sales.

Financial research firm Cowen and Company believes Intel will supply Apple with 50% or more of the LTE modems needed for "iPhone 7," a win that could generate some $1.5 billion in incremental revenue over the next year for the chipmaker.

Skyworks Solutions and Cirrus Logic shares nosedived Tuesday after Pacific Crest analyst Michael McConnell downgraded the stocks and predicted a 15%-20% decline in Apple iPhone 7 shipments later this year compared with shipments of the iPhone 6S after that product was released last September.

According to a recent memo, Senate staffers will no longer receive any BlackBerry devices going forward-it's an Android and iPhone world on the hill now. BlackBerry will continue to support any devices still in use, but that's it.

With rumors strongly suggesting Apple's next-generation iPhone will lack a traditional headphone jack, supplier Cirrus Logic this week announced the release of a new development kit that will enable companies to make Made for iPhone-certified Lightning headphones.

Contract manufacturer Jabil, which supplies Apple's iPhones, projected guidance for next quarter well below expectations, which analysts said might suggest a weak Apple product cycle.

Leaked photos that first surfaced on the French tech blog Nowhereelse.fr on June 25 appear to show the casing on the iPhone 7 with a much larger camera sensor opening than the previous iPhone, as well as a possible dual-camera configuration for the larger iPhone 7 Plus.

More than 300,000 people have signed a petition urging Apple not to ditch the headphone socket from the version of the iPhone due for release this autumn.

Apple's low-cost iPhone SE appears to be cannibalizing sales of more expensive handsets, including the flagship iPhone 6S, says Nomura Securities.

Apple plans bigger design changes for 2017, the 10th anniversary of the original iPhone. Those changes could include an edge-to-edge organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, screen and eliminating the home button by building the fingerprint sensor into the display, according to people familiar with the matter.

The intellectual property tribunal said the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus looked too similar to the 100C model made by Shenzhen Beili, a small Chinese brand.

Apple's next iPhone will use modems from Intel, replacing Qualcomm chips in some versions of the new handset, a move by the world's most-valuable public company to diversify its supplier base.

Apple will likely take three years between full-model changes of its iPhone devices, a year longer than the current cycle. In a typical two-year term, fall 2016 was supposed to see a major upgrade. But the changes on the model to be launched this autumn will be minor, such as improved camera quality.

The iPhone 7 might introduce a new starting point for built-in storage while also improving RAM.

Although Skyworks posted revenue growth, it missed the estimates. This indicated that the slowdown in iPhone sales hit the company's earnings more than what was expected. This saw the company's stock fall by 6.9% after the announcement of the earnings.

Apple watchers can add "OLED display" to the list of features we're expecting in the iPhone 7, as hinted by the CEO of Applied Materials.

Taiwan's tech suppliers will get significantly fewer orders from Apple in the second half of 2016 compared with a year ago, no thanks to an ongoing slump in demand for premium smartphones and a lack of groundbreaking features for the upcoming iPhone 7, sources familiar with the matter told the Nikkei Asian Review.

Nomura's Chris Chang thinks Sony is now behind schedule, which means that Apple will have to go to LG Innotek for assembly.

Although Skyworks posted revenue growth, it missed analysts' estimates. This indicated that the slowdown in iPhone sales hit the company's earnings more than what was expected. This saw the company's stock fall by 6.9% after the announcement of the earnings.

About a decade after Apple's iPhone first hit the market, Nokia is seeking to relaunch its consumer business with health bands and connected scales by acquiring French startup Withings.

Analyst Steve Mullane of BlueFin Research Partners said that TSMC is "planning to double the production starts" of Intel's XMM 7360 LTE modem in the current quarter. The analyst says that this "correlates with the timing of the Apple A10 processor production ramp in preparation for the iPhone 7 launch in September.

IPhone supplier Imagination Technologies has jumped nearly 13% following news that a Chinese state-backed business has taken a 3% stake in the chip designer.

Apple has killed off support for WebObjects, a now outdated program that once helped companies dynamically and instantly build new websites using information that customers entered online.

Apple for months has been rumoured to be working on a new iPhone that will have no 3.5mm headphone jack. The company has been said to remove the 3.5mm jack from the iPhone 7 models and replace it with a Lightning port in order to make the smartphone slimmer. A new leaked image however tips that iPhone 7 will include a 3.5mm jack after all.

Apple's global iPhone shipments will fall short of analysts' consensus estimates of 210 to 230 million units in the 2016 fiscal year, according to a new research note issued by respected KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a worst case scenario, iPhone shipments in 2016 are expected to reach just 190 million units, which is an 18% reduction in shipment growth and 3 million fewer iPhones than Apple sold in 2014.

Investors don't know for sure how much of Qualcomm's revenue and profits are directly attributable to the iPhone. But analysts have recently estimated that if Intel won 30% to 40% of the iPhone chips, it would reduce Qualcomm's earnings per share next year by 6% to 9%.

Qualcomm indicated on an earnings call Wednesday that it may be losing some orders from Apple for modem chips that link the iPhone to the web.