Apparent iPhone 8 dummy unit is super-confusing

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iPhone-8-dummy-1
Is this the real iPhone 8?
Photo: Benjamin Geskin

Thanks to recent leaks, we thought we had a good idea what the iPhone 8 might look like. But forget what you thought you knew about Apple’s next-generation smartphone.

This apparent dummy unit blows all our previous conceptions right out of the water and leaves us with a lot of unanswered questions.

According to Benjamin Geskin, who posted these photos on Twitter, this is a model iPhone 8 manufactured by Foxconn. It sports 2.5D glass on its front and back, and what looks like a polished metal frame that evokes memories of the iPhone 3G.

As recent rumors have suggested, the device sports two rear-facing camera sensors, one of which sits on top of the other. Like its predecessors, it also boasts a physical sleep/wake button, volume buttons and a mute switch. Geskin says there are two front-facing cameras, too.

It’s unclear how big the handset’s display is, since it is surrounded by black bezels.

The device is missing a physical Home button, and there’s no sign of a Touch ID sensor on its back. This suggests this model will have fingerprint-sensing technology embedded within its display, though some reports have claimed Apple is having trouble getting it ready in time for the iPhone 8 this fall.

iPhone 8 dummy unit
What happened to Touch ID?
Photo: Benjamin Geskin

If this particular iPhone does have a fingerprint-reading display, it could be the high-end “iPhone Edition” with an OLED display, which is expected to launch alongside the regular iPhone 8. However, many rumors promised this model would also have curved glass like Samsung’s Galaxy devices.

This dummy makes us even more confused about Apple’s next-generation iPhone lineup, then — especially after recent leaks led us to believe that the device would have an aluminum unibody almost identical to that of the iPhone 5, only bigger.

iPhone 8 leaks are rolling in thick and fast now, so it’s only a matter of time before we’ll be able to piece together a more accurate picture of Apple’s next smartphones.

What do you think of this dummy unit?

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