An Apple iPhone is pictured next to the logo of Apple in Bordeaux, southwestern France, February 26, 2016.
An Apple iPhone is pictured next to the logo of Apple in Bordeaux, southwestern France, February 26, 2016. Reuters/Regis Duvignau

Apple iPhone 7 has long been rumoured to be thinner than any other previous iPhones. The tech giant is said to get rid of its usual headphone jack and depend on a lightning port, enabling users to connect the phone for charging and data transfer.

Stimulating prevailing rumours, an image of a white EarPods with lightning connector surfaced online on Chinese media, as reported by 9to5Mac. The image resembles Apple's current headphones and might be Photoshopped in anticipation of the iPhone 7 design change. Thus, the authenticity of the image is dubious.

According to unofficial reports, the headphone jack will be replaced by a second speaker.

To make the device even thinner, Apple may also do away with its rear camera hump present in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s series.

Apple's next iteration of the latest iPhone 6s is believed to bring in ground-breaking technologies as well as dramatic design improvements into the smartphone domain.

The iPhone 7 is anticipated to boast the first ever top-to-bottom display screen, by eliminating the physical home button. The smartphone is expected to house a fingerprint scanner integrated into the display screen or feature a biometric recognition technology.

Related: Apple iPhone 7 specs update: Device may ditch physical home button

In 2016, just like its predecessors, the next generation of iPhone is also expected to come in two variants. The more premium iPhone 7 Plus (iPhone Pro) is slated to sport a dual-lens camera module.

Speculations are rife that the bigger iPhone 7 Plus will sport a gigantic 256GB of internal memory. Apple may finally ditch its 16GB model and come up with considerably upgraded storage capacity for the iPhone 7. However, there is no confirmation on the same.

This year, the expected release date of the Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus is in September 2016. However, Apple has not announced the official iPhone 7 release date.