iPhone 7

Yesterday, we speculated that a faux speaker grille at the bottom of the iPhone 7 created by the removal of the headphone jack is for visual symmetry, based on drawings on Apple's website and a quote from John Gruber's iPhone 7 review. Today's teardowns from iFixit and Chipworks hint at a new component where the headphone jack would've been, suspected to channel sound from outside the phone into the mic.

Putting an end to speculation, Apple itself has gone on the record to confirm that the faux speaker grille acts as a “barometric vent.” According to the company, it's needed after all the waterproofing to help built-in barometer sensor measure altitude accurately.

One of the smaller but no less important features included in both new iPhone 7 models is an entirely new and “immersive” stereo speaker system that Apples claims provides twice the sound. Risking to be chastised in comments for bringing this up, I do feel we need to clear up the confusion and reiterate that a second speaker grille at the bottom of the phone does not actually house a speaker and is there purely for cosmetic reasons.