Everything We Know About iPhone 8

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While the world knows Apple will announce the iPhone 8 - a matter of when, not if - what do we have on the upcoming new mobile gadget?

Release Date

September 2017 is the current date expected.

Apple has traditionally revealed and made big noise about their latest iPhone incarnation early in September before launching it worldwide within 10 days of the reveal. Unless something big has changed then we can presume Apple will be continuing the trend.

Price

This is an iPhone so expect your wallet to quiver in fear at the prospect of another Apple product purchase.

The history of major releases of iPhone suggests the new model will be at least £599 in the UK, but it could go over by as much as £629 or close by. The iPhone 5 started at £529, the iPhone 6 went up to £539 and the iPhone 7 has peaked at £599. Will Apple break the £600 barrier? It could very well happen especially with the United Kingdom dealing with Brexit negotiations with the European Union, and the fluctuating Pound Sterling.

iPhone 8 Features

Currently as we are so far out from an actual announcement of the next iPhone all the features of an iPhone 8 are to be taken with huge pinches of salt.

Rumoured feature highlights:

• OLED/AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) display

• 5.8" screen

• Home button removed

• 10-nanometer 'A11' chipset

• iOS 11 operating system

• Capable of charging wirelessly

• Intel-based 7360 LTE modem

• New all-glass design

The Missing Link?

What's this about iPhone 8? The iPhone 7S is next in line surely?

This would be typical of Apple's tick-tock release for iPhone generations but it seems they'll be breaking it and jumping straight to the next major line. This doesn't rule out the possibility of a 7S but it does greatly lessen the chances. They wouldn't want to steal the thunder from each, particularly from a full successor.

"There might be no 'S' cycle in C2017. Our conversations with industry participants suggest Apple could skip the “S” cycle next year and instead jump to IP8," said Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz, reports MacRumours.

The reason behind this sudden change? Apple could be gearing up to move away from the current numbering scheme, which is something they've done before with the iPad, and it's also likely that the slower growth of the smartphone market is catching up to them. It's harder to get people excited about 'smaller upgrade' jumps.

Bigger, Brighter, Faster

As everything we have to go on so far are whispers and rumblings from within the industry and its various supply chain middle-men, it's difficult to nail down exactly what Apple has cooking.

• OLED/AMOLED

Are Apple ditching LCD for the more impressive OLED or even AMOLED? The biggest gain from this change would be less power required as unlike LCD, the newer techniques only light pixels that need to be on, i.e. that display a colour other than black. This also lets black appear better on screen as the pixel is literally switched off. It's believed Apple will be making the changeover with iPhone 8.

"Speculation regarding the potential adoption of OLED displays by Apple continues to dominate major discussions with investors. The current speculation anticipates Apple’s adoption of OLED displays in its iPhone in 2017 or 2018. We believe that Apple can adopt OLED displays sooner rather than later by pursuing a partial adoption and incorporating it in a specialised edition of a new iPhone version," said research analyst Hendi Susanto of Gabelli & Co.

• 5.8" screen

This could be Apple's biggest screened iPhone design taking over from the iPhone 6 which was the first iteration to reach 5.5". Long gone are the 4" screen days although Apple have launched the SE model for those who prefer their smartphones to be kept in check size-wise.

• Home button removed

Bye bye Home button, and hello full-screen faced iPhone 8. Removing the headphone jack point was the first step to slimming the iPhone's size but the removal of the physical Home button would mean the screen could now take up all the front of the phone.

This would suit the rumoured new features of biometric security scanning (though this is hardly fool-proof) and recent patents by Apple name a better fingerprint scanning method too, which would obviously go hand-in-hand with a full-screened phone that would support nothing but swipes and taps.

This particular patent is there to address "an interest in avoiding assigning valuable surface space exclusively to an component that may only be used briefly during the process of identifying the user", which rather looks like an accusation against the humble Home button. They'll utilise an electrostatic lens to avoid 'blurring' by internal components for more accurate tracking, or 'tech magic' if your eyes just glossed over.

• 10-nanometer 'A11' chipset

A new iPhone means a new processor chip from Apple's own engineers, and this time it looks like a 10-nanometer thick/thin 'A11' chipset will be powering the iPhone 8. The iPhone 7 is currently working with the A10 Fusion whereas the iPhone 6S uses the A9. The pattern will certainly continue.

Certification for Apple's new chipset is expected this Q4 2016, according to industry insiders with "small-volume production" in Q2 2017 by Taiwan's TSMC and a full ramp-up in Q3 2017. They are said to be taking the lion's share of supplying Apple with the A11, with a third leftover for another company such as Samsung, though some also claim TSMC has bagged the entire production contract.

• iOS 11 operating system

History dictates Apple launching a new iOS operating system each time a major iPhone release arrives and so the advent of the iPhone 8 certainly qualifies for another leap. They could decide on another name for it to go by but the current convention says it'll have an '11' stuck on the end.

Should Apple be working on another iOS version then it would show up at the Worldwide Developer Conference in mid-2017.

• Capable of charging wirelessly

Battery life is always a concern, and not just because your smartphone is liable to literally catch fire and take the family SUV with it, but because poor battery life means you're forever at the mercy of the phone charger.

What kind of juice can we expect with the iPhone 8? Unknown.

Wireless charging is expected to debut with the iPhone 8 which will begin an all-new era of not having to worry about the battery life as much, at least in-doors. What helps extend the operating time are the new tech improvements such as switching to OLED from LCD, with the A11 also playing a major role in power consumption. There's not enough information about the iPhone 8's cell size yet.

• Intel-based modem

Apple could switch to  Intel-based modems which will hurt their original Qualcomm supplier. If not then the Snapdragon X16 LTE modem from Qualcomm could be inside the iPhone 8. It's a fancy 14-nanometer modem with "fibre-like" performance. It's far superior to the X12 model found in the Samsung Galaxy S7. Intel is pushing hard to lobby their tech and take the reins over from Qualcomm.

Currently any information about the iPhone 8 will be in flux but we'll be keeping an eye out for new credible details as they come.

iPhone 8
iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. A new durable glass design and Retina HD display with True Tone. Wireless charging, augme...
Release Dates
22 Sep 2017-Standard
22 Sep 2017-Plus
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