iPhone 7 could end Apple's dream run as a smartphone giant

Apple's brand connect is so strong at this point that I wouldn't do a double take if they decided to brand a product iPotty and make it seem like a necessity in our daily lives.

Heck, they might even release it in pink (Sorry, Rose gold). But look beyond the surface, and it is evident that 2016 hasn't been a great year for Apple.

Samsung's stunning Galaxy S7 Edge has outsold the iPhone 6S in America, Apple's home market and there have been serious ramblings about top boss Tim Cook's ability to brew and breathe innovation into products.

And it's that time of the year again: Apple is expected to release the iPhone 7 on September 7. Leaks have touted it to be an iterative update after the "revolutionary" (try reading that without an Lol) iPhone 6S.

If you think about it, every iPhone after the iPhone 4 has been an iterative update, with major changes in iOS in which Apple built and incorporated a phenomenal number of features "inspired" by Android.

Industry experts predict the iPhone 7 will see the end of the headphone jack as Apple will proceed to use the lightning connector or trusted old Bluetooth for headphones.

Even if this is the biggest "feature" in the latest iPhone, people will still line up outside IStores and India's grey markets will sell the phone for more than one lakh rupees in the first week alone because, well, Apple. iPhone was was the most searched keyword on Google for about 13 hours till 4pm today!

But the end of the proverbial "I" dream may come knocking sooner than the Silicon Valley giant expects.

With Google set to release Project Ara later this year, a modular smartphone that is essentially just a motherboard that lets the user choose what display, camera or battery to use - all the while being easily swappable - Apple needs to actually release a groundbreaking smartphone, and not just create buzz around a brand. 

With Samsung upping their game in smartphone design the past few months, in addition to some Android OEMs taking baby steps in the direction of modular phones, this really could spell the end for Tim Cook's ship as the innovative tech giant.

Despite having sold 214 million iPhones over the past year, Apple's revenue declined for the first time in 13 years. The brand took another hit with the "Touch disease" lawsuit. Several thousand iPhone 6 and 6 Plus complained that the iPhone screen becomes unresponsive and a grey bar appears along the top of the display, which kills the screen over time. A report from popular iPhone analysis website iFixit says  the problem is occurring due to a design defect.

A lawsuite filed on Saturday alleges that Apple was aware of the design flaw and concealed it from consumers. It stated that the iPhone maker is refusing to acknowledge or repair the products and keeps sending replacements for phones under warranty.

The complaint also suggests that the 5s and 5c are insulated from the flaw in various ways, so it's not as if Apple didn't know it was a possibility. Apple's support forums are littered with complaints about the touch disease, but the company hasn't done anything about the problem. This could become a class-action suit in the future, which won't leave it looking good - after all, Apple prides itself on brand satisfaction.

It's been a dark run for Apple's flagship product and an iterative iPhone will decidedly invite more gloom. It's time the "I" woke up to innovation.