iPhone 7 could be waterproof, three years behind Android

The iPhone 6s has only just hit the shops, but rumours have already surfaced about Apple's next smartphones, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

Unlike the 6s and 6s Plus, which brought  incremental upgrades, the iPhone 7 should bring an entirely new design and features – and new rumours suggest it'll be waterproof.

The rumours originate from posts submitted on the Chinese site Weibo, and also suggest that the next iPhone 7 will use a non-metal, dustproof chassis. So, how likely are these rumours to be true?

While waterproof casing would be revolutionary for most iPhone users, it's a feature that's already been silently apparent on existing Apple devices.

Despite being labelled as water resistant with a rating of IPX7, the Apple Watch has actually proven to be far more resilient in real-world tests. Although tipped to handle submersion at a metre down for 30 minutes, third-party tests have shown the Apple Watch is capable of withstanding 40 metres of depth for the same amount of time.

It's not just the Apple Watch that hides its water resilience – recent reports have also suggested the iPhone 6s is far more water resistant than expected. Phone 6s was unaffected when submerged under a few inches of a water for thirty minutes. In the same test, an older iPhone 6 died after only one minute.

Water damage is a common cause of damage to iPhones – and several Android smartphones are already waterproof. Released this year, the Xperia Compact Z3 is the latest in a long line of waterproof smartphones from Sony, while the Motorola Moto G 3 (2015) also includes a waterproof casing amongst its features. According to the same source, Apple is already in the process of testing the waterproof iPhone 7.

And the likelihood of a non-metal chassis? That's harder to determine. Apple has no problem with tweaking the materials used in its handsets, and only recently made the jump to sturdier 7000 series aluminum on its iPhone 6s. However, it seems unlikely that Apple would abandon its colour selection of Rose Gold, Gold, Space Grey and Silver – which are now available throughout its iPad and MacBook range. Of course, it's also doubtful Apple would be willing to change to a non-metal, and perhaps less-premium feeling, material for its phones.