2017 is the 10th anniversary of the iPhone. And all rumours point to a radical redesign of the iPhone, from the ground up. To give you an overview – this is what we’re looking at.
- A return to the glass body
- Edge-to-edge display
- Home button, Touch ID and front facing camera integrated in the screen
- OLED screen
- Much faster 10 nanometer A11 processor
- Wireless charging
Why iPhone 8
2017 is going to be an interesting year for Apple. It’s going to be a 10 year milestone for the iPhone. And it’s going to be 3 years of the similar design language. And 5 years since Apple did the unibody aluminium design move.
So according to rumours, Apple is going to flip the carpet and change a lot of things. And to signify that this is a big deal, Apple’s going to ditch the usual naming cycle – which would put the next iPhone release at 7s – and directly go to the iPhone 8.
iPhone 8 Release Date
Based on Apple’s track record, we can safely assume that the iPhone 8 will be released sometime in September 2017.
iPhone 8 Design
These days, almost every Android phone, even the low-end ones have an aluminum unibody design. Apple needs to differentiate itself again. And According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo Apple’s going to do that by going back to the iPhone 4/4s era, all glass design. Which means glass at front and back. I personally loved this design and thanks to much tougher Gorilla Glass, it’s possible that Apple can recreate this design while making sure it’s not as brittle as the iPhone 4.
Another good side effect of the all glass design is that it could enable wireless charging as well. Kuo also predicts that higher-end iPhones might even use a stainless steel frame instead of the aluminum ones.
Could There Be Three Models?
Multiple rumors are suggesting that there could be three different models of the iPhone 8 – 4.7, 5 and 5.5 inches. It’s also possible that the OLED screen is only available for a “premium” model.
The Screen
There have been lots of different reports when it comes to the iPhone 8’s screen, with varying levels of absurdity. But here’s what most of those rumors have in common.
The screen is going to be edge-to-edge. And there isn’t going to be a Home button. Touch ID sensor, and the front facing cameras are going to be integrated in the screen. Yes, it’s a bit far-fetched but then again, we rely on Apple doing the impossible.
There’s also rumors that the screen is going to be OLED.
Some reports also suggest that the screen might have curved edges, like the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
Could Be A New Red Color
Japanese Site Mac Otakara believes that Apple will upgrade the current iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, with speed bump and introduce a red color. They might call this version the “iPhone 7s”.
Processor
It’s expected that Apple will use a 10-nanometer structure for the A11 chip, manufactured by TSMC exclusively. The chip is supposed to be significantly smaller and much more energy-efficient.
Wireless Charging
Rumours suggest that Apple is working on long-range wireless charging technology. And it would make sense for Apple to introduce this feature in iPhone 8 because of the glass back.
Improved Biometrics
Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that iPhone 8 could include advanced biometric features like iris scanning or facial recognition. We could see these features make it to the iPhone 8.
iPhone 8 Camera
According to Kuo, the 4.7 inch iPhone will still be stick with the single camera. He believes that the dual camera mode will also finally get optical image stabilization.
Find our latest iPhone 8 coverage below.
