Rumour suggests new iPhone will be called 'iPhone Edition'
Two separate sources suggest that the iPhone 8 launch may arrive later than September, in what would be a huge surprise
The iPhone 8 will feature a curved OLED screen like the Samsung Galaxy Edge, apparently (but another researcher has contradicted this)
Rumours that Lightning port will be replaced by USB-C (while others predict fast-charging via the existing Lightning port)
Ming Chi Kuo predicts that the iPhone 8's screen will have a function area for virtual buttons, like the MacBook Pro's Touch Bar...
...as well as a monstrous screen pixel density of 521 pixels per inch, and a major increase in battery capacity
The iPhone 8's lowest storage option will be 64GB (with 256GB as the alternative)
Wireless charging rumours spread as Apple joins Wireless Power Consortium...
...but analysts predict wireless charging will require a separate accessory
Possibility that there will be no physical buttons at all
iPhone 8 expected to break thousand-dollar barrier for first time
New predictions that Touch ID will be built into the iPhone 8's display and will be joined by a new security feature: facial recognition.
Predictions that late 2017 will see the launch of an 'iPhone X'.
When will the iPhone 8 be released?
The iPhone 8 is likely to be released in September 2017, but there are whispers of a delay.
Before we think about new features you should expect in the iPhones of the future, let's talk about the likely release date schedule. Apple's latest batch of smartphones, the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus, were released in the autumn of 2016. (Read more: iPhone 7 review and iPhone 7 Plus review.) Apple always releases new iPhones in September, and we assume this year will be the same.
Delays
Logic and history both point to September, then, but multiple sources are suggesting that Apple may miss its usual date with smartphone destiny.
Digitimes has predicted that "production for the new OLED iPhone is unlikely to start until September due to the redesigned fingerprint ID solution", and KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has stated that there will not be time to implement the expected new 3D camera system unless Apple pushes back the launch date of the new iPhones: "Unless production of the OLED iPhone (expected to begin in September) gets pushed back, there is virtually no time to make changes to the 3D camera system."
Both via Business Insider.
It would be a major surprise if September didn't include an iPhone launch event, but we'll keep our ears open for further whispers suggesting a delay.
Future release schedules
After autumn 2017 it gets harder to predict. Based on the past few years of Apple launches, the generation after that logically ought to be an S update: the iPhone 7s and the iPhone 7s Plus, launched together in autumn 2017 (with the potential of an iPhone SE 2 in spring of 2017, or moved back to launch with them in the autumn). The iPhone 8 - as well as the iPhone 8 Plus - would then finally be unveiled in September 2018.
Must Note:
- Sept 2016: iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
- Mar 2017: iPhone SE 2
- Sept 2017: iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus
- Mar 2018: iPhone SE 3
- Sept 2018: iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus
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