With WWDC just around the corner, the iPhone 8 rumours are really starting to hot up, as more and more leaks and speculation about Apple’s new iPhone hit the wires.
We know it is coming inside Q4 and we know it will be the most expensive iPhone that Apple has ever produced. It will use an OLED display, feature a new design and pack in new imaging technology.
How it will all fit together remains to be seen, at least, in an official capacity, though you can see some “leaked” images of the handset below. But one thing is almost certain: this iPhone will be the biggest and most impressive iPhone since 2014’s iPhone 6 release.
Expect massive sales, massive profits and massive queues throughout the last quarter of 2017.
UBS analyst Steven Milunovich has waded into the iPhone 8 rumour mill with his predictions for how much the iPhone 8 will cost once it lands later on this year.
According to Milunovich, the top of the line, 256GB iPhone 8 will indeed top out at $1070, making it the most expensive iPhone ever released. The lower-storage models, however, will retail for less with prices likely starting at $870.
:Earlier this month,” notes 9to5Mac, “Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski predicted that the iPhone 8 will cost $999 for 128GB and $1,099 for 256GB. The discrepancy in pricing between Milunovich and Jankowski could be related to differing storage amounts, with the former perhaps anticipating a 64GB model while the latter predicts a 128GB base.”
The iPhone 8 Design LEAKS Online
Although there has been a bit of recent doubt, the latest reports indicate that Apple's iPhone 8 launch is back on track and will happen in September, and now we're seeing a leaked set of live photos of an iPhone 8 mock-up or dummy unit.
According to BGR, these photos do show the final design of the iPhone 8. "As has been the case in years past, this mockup is thought to have been built using actual finalized schematics that were leaked from the factories that will build Apple’s next-generation iPhones," said the report.
While the overall design language of the iPhone 8 appears to be present, the report does note that not all markings and ports are present, including the lack of a fingerprint scanner. This means we don't yet know where certain key features will be positioned, previous rumours have said the iPhone 8 will have the Touch ID fingerprint scanner embedded under glass, while others have said it will feature a face scanner or iris scanner instead.
"These photos show an iPhone 8 design that is largely in line with recent rumors. The phone features 2.5D glass panels on the front and back that curve slightly at their edges. Sandwiched between them is a polished stainless steel midframe that is rounded as well, perfectly continuing the slope of the 2.5D glass. The result is a smooth design that will likely feel seamless in the hand," said BGR.
The rear panel also houses a very prominent camera array with a metal bezel; it's arranged vertically rather than the existing iPhone 7's horizontal setup. For this mock-up it's just a void of inky blackness, but for the real-deal it's believed this will house a dual-camera sensor, LED-flash module, and a microphone.
As you can see, the iPhone 8 design has no 3.5mm headphone jack and uses a Lightning port at the base. It also has dual-speaker grilles.
MORE photos have now emerged online showing the metal mold used to form the bodyshell of the iPhone 8 alongside the equivalent molds for the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus. The image, which rocked up on Chinese social network Weibo, shows the 5.8in iPhone 8 in the middle, with the 4.7in iPhone 7s on the right-hand side, and the larger 5.5in iPhone 7s Plus on the left; while the handset is smaller, the iPhone 8 has a larger display due to the screen curvature on the edges, it may also not have a physical control key on the front allowing more room for screen.
You can see that the iPhone 8 has a vertical camera arrangement while the iPhone 7s has a single circular module, and the iPhone 7s Plus has a horizontal dual-sensor array.
