Of course this was a mixed blessing. It meant that anyone who had invested in expensive headphones which have to buy a new pair. But now it looks that Apple has walked away from this idea, at least for now.

A newly leaked photo of an alleged iPhone component, it seems to suggest the headphone jack is still with us.Part of the circuitry of the next iPhone and it does appear to show that the headphone jack is still present in the design. It might not be a real leak, it comes from China where they are not the most reliable. It is possible that the headphone jack removal rumours were false too.

But what this seems to suggest is that all the iPhone 7 will be is a slightly upgraded iPhone 6s with a similar design and with new antenna bands. Apple is truly saving itself for next year.

But this does leave Apple in a difficult position. Its profits are going down, market interest is slumping and things could get worse in China. It really needs a product launch which indicates it has not lost the plot. With the iPhone 7 looking like it will not be Apple’s champion and the unlikely event that it will come up with anything new, it seems that this year will be an annus horribilis and thinks are going to get worse.