f Apple sticks to its standard September announcement schedule, we'll finally know all the juicy details about the new 2017 iPhones within six weeks or so. In the meantime, the leaks and rumors are hitting fever pitch.
And in the past week, we've gotten two big indicators from Apple itself: one official, and one amazing leak.
Apple's quarterly earnings, announced Tuesday, were the usual chronicle of gobs of cash coming in. But the big news was the forward-looking forecast: Apple guided at or above expectations, which investors took as a big green light. Despite the long-swirling rumors to the contrary, the next wave of iPhones does not appear to be delayed -- or not significantly so, in any event. That suggests a traditional September announcement -- and release -- is effectively on schedule, since Apple's current quarter ends at the end of that month.
Unofficially, meanwhile, Apple spilled some major beans. A couple of inquisitive iOS developers, working from a beta firmware of the HomePod smart speaker that Apple apparently posted on an open server, have managed to reverse-engineer a lot of information about the forthcoming iPhones, including what appears to be the all-screen redesign, shown here.
As always, nothing is official until it's official. As we count down the days until the big introduction, we'll continue to assemble the most significant iPhone 8 rumors below.
iPhone 8 specs we might see:
As discussed above, the delivery date remains way, way up in the air. The latest earnings call aside, there have been clear and repeated signals that all may not be well in Cupertino. For months now, we've been hearing rumors about manufacturing issues related to the "significant hardware upgrades" planned for the new phone.
Tim Cook seems confident of a regular release, but if the big reveal doesn't go down according to the standard timeline, Apple has several unpalatable options. Hold back the new phone until October or November. Announce in September and subject customers to "severe shortages." Launch the "S" series -- expected to be an incremental upgrade of the iPhone 7 -- in September, leaving the iPhone 8 debut for later in the year (though that contingency may no longer be an option).
The iPhone TBD
It's highly likely that we'll get an iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus in addition to the next-generation flagship. But we don't know what Apple will call the 10th anniversary model itself. Anything is possible, and candidates include the iPhone 8, the iPhone 10, the iPhone X, the iPhone Pro and the iPhone Edition.
Dual cameras, 3D lasers and Face ID
The next iPhone may make the leap from Touch ID to Face ID. According to Korea Economic Daily, Bloomberg and a JP Morgan analyst, Apple has been working on facial recognition technology that leverages dual cameras for "biometric" identification. Like Touch ID -- but with your face instead of your thumbprint.
Now, a developer who's been examining the firmware of Apple's forthcoming HomePod smart speaker, has discovered references to infrared face detection in the code.
This is certainly one of the new features that could be holding up production. And if done wrong, the repercussions could be dramatic. Remember when the Samsung Galaxy S8's iris scanner was hacked with a photo and a contact lens?The circumstantial evidence is mounting. Many of the "leaked" images we've seen show an iPhone 8 that has two cameras arranged vertically with an LED flash in the middle. And Fast Company has reported that Apple has developed a rear-facing 3D laser system that would improve AR depth detection as well as autofocusing for photography. A patent application dated July 6, 2017, spotted by TechCrunch, spells out in great detail Apple's ambition to patent a sensor that can tell if you're human. In short, it looks pretty damn likely that facial recognition is coming to the iPhone.
Though the rumored iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus are likely to stick with current LCD technology, the next flagship is almost certain to have an OLED. (We've also heard that the entire iPhone lineup could go OLED in 2018.)
At least one new iPhone will have an OLED display
A curved OLED panel (reported by The Wall Street Journal and Nikkei Asian Review) would be a big-time upgrade for the iPhone and a huge equalizer in its rivalry with the Samsung Galaxy 8. Bloomberg says the iPhone 8's screen "covers almost the entire front of the device" and Kuo says it will have "the highest screen-to-body ratio" of any phone. The new display could be one of the factors pushing back the release date.
The future of the home button
Kuo insists that the iPhone 8 will have a virtual home button but that it will not support Touch ID (giving even more credence to this whole Face ID thing). This is now backed up by the HomePod firmware findings, detailed above.
But there are rumors that Apple might move the home button to the back of the phone, as shown in alleged render images leaked on Chinese site Weibo (via Slashleaks) and on Twitter by Apple leaker Sonny Dickson. One analyst firm suggested there is a "high chance" that Apple will locate it on the back of the iPhone. Or Apple could ditch the home button altogether, following in the footsteps of Samsung with its Galaxy S8.
Touch ID RIP?
Of course, if Apple has figured out how to make Face ID work, would there still be a need for Touch ID?
Though some reports say Apple has figured out how to embed Touch ID directly in the display, others have suggested that the challenge of mass producing a virtual home button/optical fingerprint scanner is the reason that the iPhone 8 won't come out in September. Maybe, maybe not. In June, Qualcomm unveiled its underscreen fingerprint-sensing technology in a Vivo phone at Mobile World Congress in Shanghai. So, in theory, it can be done.
iOS 11 could hold more surprises
A dual camera array would also be capable of supporting the AR applications we know are coming to iOS 11, which Apple introduced at this year's WWDC. The public beta debuted in June (here's how to install it) and we've since discovered some of the cool stuff that's coming to the next iPhone -- though, surely, more is to come. The highlights we know about include a smarter, more capable Siri, screen recording and AR software that will overlay the virtual world on to the physical one. Read more about iOS 11 in our preview
he outside, if not the inside
As detailed above, according to developer Steve Troughton-Smith, the HomePod firmware also features a glyph that could be the iPhone 8, which shows a very narrow bezel and camera array cut out along the top edge.
For weeks now, accessory manufacturers have been taking orders on cases and screen protectors. And though manufacturers regularly do get the specs wrong, all of this may be a signal that Apple -- while it scrambles to put the finishing touches on both hardware and software -- has at least locked down its final exterior design. The majority of images of cases, renders and molds that have appeared so far show an iPhone 8 that, size-wise, sits between the iPhone 7 ($810.00 at Amazon Marketplace) and 7 Plus ($823.89 at Amazon Marketplace); the iPhone 8's display, rumored to extend from edge to edge, would likely be more comparable with that of the 7 Plus.
In terms of materials, one of Apple's prototypes features a combination of curved glass and stainless steel, according to Bloomberg. This corroborates earlier rumors (reported by DigiTimes and Nikkei Asian Review) suggesting that the company might replace the traditional aluminum iPhone design with a glass and steel body. Previous rumors about the possibility of a ceramic body seem to have faded out.Wireless charging has been on the hot rumor list for months, though it's been unclear whether it would be integrated by default or via an optional accessory.
Charging forward
Noted Apple watcher John Gruber tweeted in July that "wireless" charging -- that is, an inductive charge pad accessory, which, technically, still has wires -- may be "sold separately" and not until later in the year, as part of a future iOS 11 update, similar to Apple's rollout of the iPhone 7 Plus portrait mode in 2016.
In June, the sleuths at MacRumors uncovered a new sound in iOS 11 theorized to be associated with engaging the iPhone 8's rumored wireless charging capabilities. And earlier in the year, Nikkei Asian Review and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the next iPhone would support wireless charging as well as USB-C-powered faster "plugged-in" charges.
JPMorgan has also postulated that the iPhone 8 will come with AirPods included. These Bluetooth-enabled headphones currently sell as a $159 accessory (£159 in the UK and AU$229 in Australia). And so this one is a stretch. But if Apple prices the new phone high enough, there could be margin enough to make it happen. Which brings us to..
AirPods includedPrice
This one's way up in the air. Sources, ranging from Morgan Stanley to Fast Company to Goldman Sachs have theorized an iPhone 8 that could cost $1,200 in the US (roughly £950 or AU$1,450).
A UBS analyst has theorized that the 64GB entry-level model would start at $850 (roughly £655 and AU$1,110) -- just like the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus -- and that the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus would cost $649 (£500 and AU$850) and $749 (£580 and AU$980), respectively.
Gigabit LTE
One area the iPhone 8 may end up trailing the Galaxy S8 is cellular network speed. The Samsung phone features Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 processor or, in some markets, Samsung's own Exynos 8895 chip -- both of which support Gigabit LTE. According to CNET's Roger Cheng, Apple uses Qualcomm and Intel modems and, at the moment, the Intel version can't deliver Gigabit LTE speed. This could force Apple to slow down the Qualcomm version to ensure all iPhones are on the same footing.
A Barclays analyst (reported by MacRumors) has suggested that Apple will stick with its Lightning connector -- and include a 3.5 mm headphone jack adapter -- for the next phone. Highly doubtful. Despite the shade being thrown by competitors like OnePlus, whose new newest phone has the legacy connector, Apple is very unlikely to reverse its position on this one.
Return of the headphone jack?
Enhanced waterproofing
That same Nikkei Asian Review article also claims that at least one of the forthcoming iPhones will be waterproof. This follows earlier rumors, reported by the Korea Herald and others, that the next iPhone will have a higher water resistance rating of IP68 compared with the current generation's IP67, meaning it could be immersed in water for longer and at greater depths.
More storage
Apple may dump its 32GB model and offer 64GB and 256GB models, according to TrendForce. The report also suggests that the company will boost the amount of memory to 3GB. This incremental bump would follow the recent precedent of Apple ditching its dreaded 16GB model when it released the iPhone 7.
Barclays analysts
have predicted that all three forthcoming iPhones -- the 7S, 7S Plus and iPhone 8 -- will come equipped with Apple's True Tone technology. If included, this would adjust display settings for ambient lighting conditions as it currently does on the
9.7-inch iPad Pro. (The next edition of the iPad Pro is also rumored to have a True Tone display.)
Mood lighting
Bringing the GPU in house
Apple is developing its own graphics chips to be used in future versions of its products, including the iPhone. But the time frame for phasing out its current supplier is 15 to 24 months, so it's unlikely that an Apple-manufactured GPU will make it into the next iPhone. We're probably looking at 2018 or 2019 for this one.
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