iPhone 7: Next Apple phone could feature Smart Connector from the iPad Pro, leak suggests

The new interface could be partly to make up for the lack of a headphone port in the new handset

An attendee looks at the new 9.7' iPad Pro during an Apple special event at the Apple headquarters on March 21, 2016 in Cupertino, California (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Apple could be taking some of its most important features from the iPad for its next iPhone.

The iPhone 7 could feature the Smart Connector that debuted with the iPad Pro, and will probably take other features from its larger sibling, according to a new report from Japan.

The Smart Connector allows for the easy connection of accessories like keyboards, and can transfer both data and power, meaning that accessories don’t need their own batteries. It uses contacts rather than a plug, meaning that accessories can be added or taken away more quickly.

That might be useful if Apple takes away the headphone port with the iPhone 7, as is widely expected.

At the moment, Apple has only used the smart connector for the Smart Keyboard, a light keyboard that also serves as a case. But it appears that it can also be used for other accessories – which might also be used on the iPhone.

Rumours about the smart connector have also come at the same time as yet further suggestion that Apple will drop the headphone support from the next phone. If it does, then the Smart Connector could step in as a way of plugging new things into the phone.

It has been suggested that Apple might have people plug their headphones into the Lightning port on the bottom of the phone, for instance. If that was the case, then the phone might be able to charge through the smart connector so both can be used at the same time.

Just as the Smart Connector was first seen in the iPad Pro, the tablet might offer clues to the other features that will come with the iPhone 7.

The smaller iPad Pro that was launched this week, for instance, comes with a screen with increased colours and a brighter backlight, all of which might be brought to the iPhone 7 too. And the new tablet is also the first to offer Apple’s “True Tone” display, which matches the colour of the screen to that in the world around it, which will also be expected to come to the phones at some point.

The new iPhone isn't expected to launch until September.