Busting myths about the upcoming iPhone 8
There is no denying the fact that the next smartphone from Apple – the iPhone 8 – is easily the most anticipated device in recent history. There is understandably great buzz around the launch of the phone which will mark the 10th anniversary of the launch of the original iPhone, with analysts expecting a major upgrade on the iPhone 7 lineup which, to be honest, was in itself a pretty good phone.
Rumours claim the phone - upon its launch sometime in September - will come with great internals and impressive features like wireless charging, virtual fingerprint scanning, and face detection capabilities.
However, as is the case with rumours, they should be taken with a pinch of salt. Here's our round up of the most interesting ones.
Rear camera with 3D lasers
Another interesting rumour about the upcoming iPhone is that it could integrate 3D lasers to the rear camera of the handset. Reports suggest the iPhone 8 will use a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) system. The VCSEL system would improve the phone's autofocus capabilities and depth perception for better-augmented reality experience.
Design
The iPhone 8's design will be a throwback to the iPhone 4 from 2010, which featured glass panels on the front and back sandwiched between a polished stainless steel mid frame. However, the iPhone 8 will take the aesthetics of the phone a notch up by using 2.5D glass sheets that will merge seamlessly with the mid frame on both ends.
Other reports peg the iPhone's 10th anniversary offering to come in two-size variants – 5 and 5.8 inches – both sporting beautiful bezel-less edge-to-edge OLED displays flaunting screen-to-body ratios exceeding that of rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S8.
Home button
If reports are to be believed, there’ll be no visible home button on the iPhone 8. Apple chose to replace a physical home button with a static force sensitive button that used Apple's new "taptic engine" to respond to the user's touch on its iPhone 7 lineup. However, Apple will now go one step further and add functionality – including a fingerprint sensor – onto the screen itself.
According to pictures of a mock-up of the upcoming device obtained by BGR, with its 10-year anniversary edition, the iPhone will see the Touch ID (fingerprint sensor) embedded directly in the display, helping Apple bring to life the bezel-less edge-to-edge display look of the phone.
Face recognition camera
A patent application filed by Apple, and spotted by TechCrunch, hints at how Apple plans to bring facial recognition capabilities with its next iPhone. As per reports, Apple has been testing this 3D face recognition system on the upcoming iPhone for a while now. This system is “powered by a new 3D sensor”, can work even if the device “is lying flat on a table, rather than just close up to the face”, and the idea with this is to replace the Touch ID fingerprint scanner.
This face sensor along with the rumoured addition of an iris scanner will help the iPhone 8 successfully negate the need of the Touch ID fingerprint scanner.
The most expensive iPhone ever?
Not light on features, Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 certainly won't be light on your pocket too. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus currently cost between $649 for the cheapest variant and $969 for the high-end Plus models, but iPhone 8 is expected to start retailing upwards of the $1000 (approx Rs 65,000) mark.