iPhone X rumor roundup: What to expect at Apple’s landmark event

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iPhone color
Will this be the new iPhone color?
Photo: Ben Miller

The long wait for Apple’s big iPhone 8 upgrade is nearly over.

Apple is set to unveil its new lineup of iPhones during an event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino on September 12. This year’s model has been hyped more than any in recent memory. Tons of new features are being packed into the 10th edition of the iPhone for what will likely be the most innovative smartphone Apple has released in years.

Here are all the details and new features we know are coming:

The Name

iphone 8 mockup
No one knows the next iPhone’s name.
Photo: Martin Hajek

We know Apple will unveil three handsets at its event in September: iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus and a premium model. Many of the Apple faithful have been calling the premium unit the iPhone 8, but it’s more likely that Apple will distinguish it from the other units by adding a new type of suffix.

This is the 10th anniversary of the first iPhone, so Apple might break from its usual naming convention and call it the iPhone X or the iPhone 10. It could also be dubbed the iPhone Edition or iPhone Pro. Leaks have been silent on the device’s true name, so we likely won’t know until it gets officially revealed, but for now we’re going to keep calling it the iPhone 8.

Update: iOS 11 GM confirms the name will be iPhone X.

All new design

iphone pro
An early mockup of the iPhone 8.

Instead of using a metal rear shell like the iPhone 6, 6s, and 7, Apple will supposedly introduce on an all-new body for the iPhone 8. This year’s flagship may bring back some of the best elements from the designs of the iPhone 4, 4s, 5 and 5s.

Early rumors have suggested the device will come with glass front and back panels. Sandwiched in between the two layers will be a stainless steel band keeping the two panels together. Deep curves are supposed to make the device feel better in the hand and give it a more refined look. Previous rumors claimed the device will have a wrap-around display like Samsung’s latest phones, but it seems more likely that the display will be more like the iPhone 7 with a 2.5D curve just at the edge into the metal bar.

OLED display

iphone
We hope the next iPhone is this beautiful.
Photo: AlHasan Husni

Apple is expected to embrace OLED displays with the iPhone 8. Switching to OLED will give Apple the ability to use screens with curved edges in the future, but one of the biggest advantages is it will be more energy efficient and have much better colors.

The iPhone 8 is rumored to feature an edge-to-edge OLED display with super-thin bezels. A black notch at the top will be used to cover the camera and speakers, but the sides of the notches will display info like the time, WiFi and LTE signal and other indicators that are on the status bar of current iPhones.

True Tone Display


Taking cues from the iPad Pro lineup, Apple will reportedly add TrueTone display tech to go with the new OLED screens. The feature ensures that whites and other colors on the iPhone 8 screen are always displayed perfectly in every setting.

Speedy A11 processor

TSMC A11 chip
A ‘leaked’ image of Apple’s alleged A11 chip.
Photo: Slashleaks

Per usual, Apple will upgrade the internals of the new iPhone with a powerful new A11 chip that will offer speeds that are twice as fast as the Samsung Galaxy S8. Leaked details from the iOS 11 GM revealed that the A11 chip will pack six cores – 2 high-powered cores and 4 high-efficiency cores.

Made by TSMC, the new chip is being manufactured using a 10-nanometer manufacturing process. That should make it much faster and more efficient the 16-nanometer A10. It’ll even be more powerful than the A10X chips that power the iPad Pro.

More RAM

iPhone 6s teardown
The 2017 iPhones are all getting big internal upgrades.
Photo: iFixit

All of this year’s new iPhone models are supposedly set for a big upgrade. 3GB will now be the new standard according to some leaks. The upgrade is reportedly already putting a strain on the world’s supply of RAM chips and causing prices to rise.

Goodbye Touch ID?

Touch ID
But don’t freak out just yet!
Photo: Apple

To make the screen more immersive, Apple is ditching its iconic home button and adding a slew of new gestures for multitasking, app switching and the like.

Rumors suggested for months that Apple was working to embed the fingerprint scanner into the display. Production issues have reportedly caused Apple to ditch those plans though.

Some rumors claimed Apple will move the Touch ID sensor to the back. There have been some sketchy videos that portended to show Touch ID in the back but that seems like a very un-Apple like deign move. Other rumors have claimed Apple will ditch Touch ID entirely and replace it with a new facial recognition system that works even better.

3D Sensors

iPhone 8 facial recognition sensor
This could be the sensor that brings 3D facial recognition to iPhone 8.
Photo: SlashLeaks


One of this year’s most innovative new features will likely be the addition of 3D sensors in both the front and the back of the iPhone 8. The new tech hasn’t been adopted by Android manufacturers yet and it might be at least two years until they can catch up to Apple’s tech.

Augmented reality apps powered by Apple’s new ARKit will get a big boost from the 3D sensors which will also be used in other exciting ways like facial recognition.

Hello FaceID

iPhone 8 facial recognition
How facial recognition could work on iPhone.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Armed with a new 3D front-facing sensor, facial recognition could be Apple’s new go-to method for authenticating users. The feature will supposedly recognize the owners face within millionths of a second. It will supposedly even work in the dark without the user even having to look straight at the device. With the 3-D sensor, the device may also be able to capture 3-D selfies, giving gamers the option to replace characters’ faces with their own. The tech will also likely play a crucial role with ARKit, giving developers new tools to make augmented reality an even better experience.

Camera upgrades

iPhone 8 mockup
This what the camera could look like.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has added improved camera sensors to its new iPhone every year since the device was launched in 2007. This year’s rumors have been short on specifics surrounding the new sensors. We could see a slight bump in megapixel count as well as sensor quality making iPhone 8 the best smartphone on the market for photography fans.

Instead of positioning the iPhone 8 camera’s dual lenses side-by-side (as on the iPhone 7 Plus), Apple might move the zoom lens so that it’s below the wide-angle lens. Well-known leaker Sonny Dickson’s alleged iPhone 8 schematic also shows the flash LED will be placed underneath both lenses. A previous leak suggested it would be positioned in between the two lenses.

Inductive charging

iPhone 8 wireless charging
iPhone 8 won’t have truly wireless charging.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Tired of not being able to charge your iPhone 7 while also listening to music via the Lightning connector? Apple may have solved that issue with inductive charging on the next iPhone. It won’t be truly wireless charging. The iPhone will still need to rest on a charging pad to get juiced up.

Augmented reality

Siri AR concept
How AR could be used for better turn-by-turn navigation.
Photo: Gabor Balogh

With the new 3D sensors and Apple’s ARKit that was introduced at WWDC 2017, the iPhone is set to become the world’s largest augmented reality platform in 2017.

Developers have already been building some impressive AR apps and the new tech in iPhone 8 will take it to another level, allowing users to interact with the world in an all-new way by overlaying information on real-world objects.

Storage bump

iPhone 8 render
iPhone 8 will be a beast.
Photo: Quinton Theron


Even though iCloud has alleviated a lot of iPhone users’ storage needs, the iPhone 8 will also pack more storage space than any of Apple’s previous handsets. The top-of-the-line units may come with up to 512GB of storage. The other models will come in 64GB and 256GB options. Apple might even ditch the 64GB tier and only offer it with the two higher capacities.

Price


Get ready to feel some pain in your wallet if you buy the iPhone 8. It will be Apple’s most expensive iPhone ever. Multiple reports have indicated that the price tag will start at $999 for the baseline model with price increments increasing by $100 for the 256GB and 512GB units.

Launch Date


With Apple’s keynote set for September 12, the iPhone 8 launch should come on September 22. Some analysts predict supplies will be severely constrained at launch. The device might not even hit stores until October based on some rumors. Get ready to wait in some long lines if you want to be one of the first owners of the great iPhone 8.

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