If we all date back to the original iPhone back in 2007 and then look nearly ten years on to 2016 to see the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, it is truly staggering how much technology has progressed in such a relatively short space of time. That be said, technology is improving and become better at an exponential rate. Ten years from now, I can 100% guarantee we will look at the iPhone 7 as we are now looking at the original first ever iPhone. With this on our minds, here are three predictions for future innovations that will come to smartphones based on what we have seen up to now.

#1 Mainstream Removal of the Headphone Jack

Let’s be honest. As much as most of us hate Apple for removing the headphone jack, we can agree to some extent why they have done this. For one, I like the fact I can plug in my phone into any type of headphones whenever I want without worrying about an adaptor. But, how often do I and others really do this? To be quite frank and honest, once in a blue moon. Nowadays, the way I listen to music is all over NFC and bluetooth.

So, with that in mind, I think everyone can live without the headphone jack – it will just take some time getting use to life without one. Apple are trend setters and we have already seen other companies, such as Motorola with the Moto Z, remove the headphone jack just like Apple have done. So, in the space of the next five years, we should start to see more and more companies ditch the port and the battle of USB Type C vs Lightning Connector headphones brew…

#2 Super Quick Charging

Yes, we already have Qualcomn quick charging 2.0 which, for the majority of phones that have this feature, can deliver up to 75% battery within the hour – this is pretty amazing. But, it can be quicker and will be quicker.

The fact of the matter is that the power that can come from a wall socket is heavily ‘dumbed’ down so that it doesn’t fry our smartphones. With technology improving, companies will be constantly finding ways to improve the charge time of smartphones: possibly to the point that to charge a phone to 100% will take under half an hour. This, in the next five years, should definitely be a reality.

#3 Amazing Sensors

Already, we have fingerprint sensors and the new Galaxy Note 7 had an iris scanner as a way of getting the user to unlock their phone. This is all pretty amazing. But, we should expect the level of sensors to be on a smartphone in five years time to completely blow us away.

For one, every smartphone should have a fingerprint sensor as the cost for such a sensor decreases. Therefore, by this time five years, every phone will have the sensors that flagships have right now and the flagships of five years will continue to provide the market with even more sensors to wow the public, just like the Samsung Note 7 did.