Every year, Apple releases a new iPhone around autumn / end of the year.
But this year is special: It marks the 10 year anniversary of the very first iPhone!
That's why the upcoming iPhone 8 (which might also be called iPhone X or iPhone Pro) is rumoured to be quite different and offer a lot of new features.
Apple always keeps the details for their upcoming projects quite secret - but every year, some details get leaked (purposely and unpurposely) a few months before the release.
There have been countless speculations about the design and functions for the new iPhone, but nothing had been confirmed yet - until now.
How did the leak happen?
Apple had just released the firmware for their new HomePod speaker (essentially a Google Home or Amanzon Echo device, by Apple).
When iOS developer Guilherme Rambo was looking through the code, he found significant information about the upcoming iPhone!
These are not hints or speculations, but proof of Apple's own documentation.
It's the biggest leak we've seen about Apple products in years, and it came from the company itself!
iPhone 8 - Design
The Design of the upcoming iPhone will differ quite a bit from the previous iPhone 6, 6s and 7 designs.
The display will be bezel-less and feature a 5.8-inch edge-to-edge screen.
There will be no more home button on the bottom of the device! The home button has been a feature since the very first iPhone, but seems like this era is ending now.
Instead, there will be a button at the side of the phone that doubles as on/off and home button.
In the back, the phone will feature dual cameras - but they are located beneath each other vertically, instead of horizontally like the previous model.
Forbes Author Gordon Kelly has actually teamed up with iPhone case-designer Nodus to recreate the iPhone 8 concept design, which has apparently been approved by Apple:
iPhone 8 - New Features
The most interesting new feature will be facial recognition, with which users will likely be able to to unlock their phone.
I've already mentioned in a previous post how Facial Recognition will play a crucial role in the future - and it looks like Apple has realized this too.
Another possible feature is wireless charging - while this wasn't included in the HomePod code, it's something that has been speculated by several reliable sources for a while now.
Apart from these new features users can possibly expect an improved camera, improved battery life, processors etc.
The iPhone 8 comes, just like the iPhone 7, only with a lightning connector and no headphone jack.
Production Problems
Although the production for the iPhone 8 has supposedly started, it seems like Apple is facing some challenges.
They hired 3 manufacturers to produce rigid flexible printed circuit boards for touchscreen of the phones, but apparently one of them just canceled because the procedure is too complicated and not profitable enough for them.
As a result, Apple has now invested $10 Million in new machines so that the other two manufacturers can produce a larger content of the circuit boards.
The face recognition software and wireless charging seems to be not quite ready yet as well.
The release of the new iPhone, which should traditionally be in September, but may be postponed 3 or 4 weeks.
It could even be possible that Apple introduces the phone, but stock will be very limited until the end of the year!
What do you think about the new iPhone 8? Are you planning to get it?
© Sirwinchester