Possible iPhone 8 prototype sports huge display

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iPhone 8 prototype
It's ugly, but it's a step forward.
Photo: Benjamin Geskin

An alleged iPhone 8 prototype with a significantly larger display and slimmer bezels has made its way into the wild. Although it almost certainly doesn’t carry the handset’s final design, it’s still surprisingly ugly for an Apple device.

If, indeed, it really is an Apple device.

The device looks a little like a rough draft of the LG G6. It has a large screen with rounded edges that covers almost all of the front of the phone, leaving no room for a physical button. It’s running what looks like a test version of iOS.

However, the larger screen does not wrap around the FaceTime camera and speaker, as previous leaks have suggested it will in the final design. Its bezels are also slightly thicker than anticipated, though they are noticeably thinner than those on previous iPhones.

The device was obtained by Benjamin Geskin, who has become popular on Twitter for his leaks. When it was initially received, the device was sporting a screen protector that made it look more like an iPhone, but it was removed to reveal the larger screen.

Geskin is building a decent track record, but even he is skeptical that this particular handset really is an iPhone 8 prototype. However, it does appear to come with a prototype “passport,” which details every quality control and testing step it has been through so far.

It’s also worth remembering that Apple makes a bunch of prototypes for every new device, and not all of them are pretty. This could well be an early iPhone 8 prototype, then, but it almost certainly isn’t a hint at the handset’s final design.

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