August 08, 2017
With September and the end of summer not too far off, Apple's 2017 launch event is close at hand. If you've been curious about what comes next for the iPhone, we may now have a solid idea of what the next iteration will look like when Tim Cook takes the stage.
Respected Apple leaker Evan Blass tweeted a photo of the rumored iPhone 8 on Monday night, confirming a year's worth of buzz about the company eliminating the "home button" in favor of a full-screen face.
iPhone 8 (encased) pic.twitter.com/9LpARCAML2
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 8, 2017
Those rumors picked up steam in February when Apple reportedly acquired Israeli facial recognition startup RealFace, whose biometric logins work in the dark using infrared vision. Alternatively, a fingerprint reader could survive on the back of the phone as seen in Android smartphone models.
Fellow Apple leaker Benjamin Geskin backed up Blass' tweet — the images were his, he said — with a closer look at the infrared sensor.
They took it from me.. this is exactly my image (sensors) pic.twitter.com/U2uvuSmlkl
— Benjamin Geskin (@VenyaGeskin1) August 8, 2017
The new iPhone, per this rendering, measures up with a 5.8-inch screen and sits in what looks to be an Urban Armor Gear case.
What ultimately surfaces at Apple's September event is still a mystery. The company, despite accidentally leaking an illustration of the phone without a home button, hasn't let on too much about specs.
Rumors that have been aggregated in recent months speculate the iPhone 8 will have the following features:
- 5.8-inch 2.5D OLED edge-to-edge display (a change from the LCD panels on previous iPhones)
- New design with an "all-glass" construction
- 71x143x7.4mm
- Wireless charging support
- Apple A11 chip
- Rear-facing Touch ID sensor
- iOS 11 with improved Siri, P2P payments
- Face-scanning technology
- Vertical dual cameras on rear
- Support for LTE speeds up to 450 Mbps
One thing to keep in mind: You might want to start saving for this device. Whenever it does reach consumers, reports suggest it could debut above the $1,000 price point.
