APPLE IPHONE X (2017) RUMORS AND NEWS

Apple’s next iPhone isn’t supposed to arrive until much later in 2017, but that hasn’t stopped legions of fans from fervently speculating about it. This year, things may be a little different as it’s the 10th anniversary of the iPhone. Rumors suggest we may see three models — the iPhone 7S, the 7S Plus, and the iPhone X (iPhone 8). The latter is expected to be an expensive, technical showcase phone released as celebration model.

If you want to learn more about the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus, head over here. A lot of this information is up in the air, but what we’re hearing about it keeps us interested. Very interested. Here’s what we’ve learned so far about the iPhone X — also referred to as the iPhone 8.

Bezel-less screen, no home button

For some time now, we’ve been hearing rumors the iPhone X will have an edge-to-edge or bezel-less screen, potentially with OLED technology. Many reports suggest Apple is still finalizing the design for the new iPhone, such as this one from Mac Otakara which states that while there was a prototype built without a home button, it may not end up being a part of the final design.

But rumors and reports continue to spread and reiterate that the iPhone X will have a home button integrated into the screen. An image created by designer Benjamin Geskin on Twitter shows how the phone may look with this type of design, and is based on sketches apparently made by a factory employee with knowledge of the iPhone X’s design. The screen stretches all the way to the bottom of the phone’s front panel, and a bezel at the top contains several sensors and a dual-lens front camera. On the rear is another dual-lens camera, but this time it’s mounted vertically.

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Before this, a report from market research firm Cowen and Company suggested that the iPhone X’s earpiece, FaceTime camera, and Touch ID fingerprint sensor will be embedded into the screen, allowing for a seamless edge-to-edge front panel. It said Apple may switch to Synaptic’s optical-based fingerprint reader for the new Touch ID, citing it as “currently the only workable solution” for detecting a fingerprint through a smartphone screen.

A patent discovered by Apple Insider suggests that Apple has considered moving the front-facing sensors to underneath the display. For a closer look, you can check out U.S. patent No. 9,466,653, titled “Electronic devices with display-integrated light sensors.” These reports corroborate rumors brought to light by Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, who was among the first to say the iPhone X also may not have a single bezel — that plays well with the idea of a single sheet of glass. The entire front of the device could be one giant display, and the Touch ID sensor would be embedded in the screen itself. This has been reiterated in The New York Times, which sourced two anonymous Apple employees.
The Wall Street Journal corroborated other rumblings about the iPhone X’s display, home button, and more. The iPhone X will reportedly feature a curved OLED screen similar to those on Samsung’s Galaxy S8 devices and it will also do away with the physical home button. And it will launch alongside two other smartphones. Analyst Ming-Chi Kou agreed, saying the iPhone X could see the elimination of the iconic home button and Touch ID sensor in favor of “virtual buttons” at the bottom of the screen.
The screen size of the new iPhone has been the subject of some debate, but it seems as though most reports agree to size of 5.8 inches (like the Galaxy S8). Previously, Nikkei Asian Review suggested that the display would instead be 5 inches, however the outlet, which is known for iPhone leaks, has since changed its tune in a revised report.
Kuo reports that the virtual buttons will take up part of the iPhone X’s screen, a rumored 5.8-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 2,800 x 1,242 pixels — a figure now agreed upon by Nikkei. And he believes the phone “will come with other biometric technologies that replace the current fingerprint recognition technology.” Kuo notes the overall footprint would be comparable to the 4.7-inch TFT-LED iPhone, though with a measurably larger display size and battery life.
Although going back to glass may seem like an odd retro move for Apple, it would also open up possibilities like wireless charging, which is nearly impossible to achieve with an all-metal device. Moreover, Kuo suggests that higher-end models of future iPhones will likely use stainless steel in their cases — so look out, world. We’re about to get real fancy.

OLED FOR THE IPHONE

One rumor that constantly crops up is the possible use of an Organic LED (OLED) screen on the iPhone X. OLED screens can offer deeper blacks and are often thinner than LCDs, and Apple has used this technology before with the Apple Watch. AMOLED is a different type of OLED, and Samsung as well as many other manufacturers have been using it on Android smartphones for years.

Using OLED on an iPhone is increasingly likely thanks to an April report from Nikkei claiming Apple placed an order for 70 million OLED panels from Samsung. According to the publication, the South Korean company will be the sole producer of screens for the device. Nikkei attributes the news to one of Apple’s suppliers and said Samsung could produce as many as 95 million panels for the new iPhone before the end of 2017. Still, Apple is reported to be testing both OLED and LCD panels, curved and flat, as recently as the beginning of March.

Not only could the display be OLED, but it could also be True Tone, according to a report from MacRumors citing Barclays bank. The only Apple device with a True Tone display is the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. True Tone basically changes the white balance of the display depending on the ambient light. If you’re in a room with an orange light bulb, the screen will change a little to match the scene. It’s very similar to Night Shift, which adjusts the color to cut out blue light at night. Apple’s Touch ID technology could also be revamped to complement the bezel-less device, in that it may be replaced by a facial recognition system. As there are a lot of technical challenges to the technology, the company may use a combination of fingerprint and facial recognition technology.

If the iPhone X does come with an OLED screen, it’ll likely be expensive, possibly beyond $1,000. The Wall Street Journal reports the displays are costly to produce. However, the same report notes that Apple could decide against the OLED model altogether. There’s precedent for such a 180: Last year, a global shortage of sapphire glass forced Apple to abandon the material for the iPhone 7.

A11 processor

Every year, Apple upgrades the processor in its new iPhone. The iPhone X, like the 7S and 7S Plus, will likely get the new A11 chip. DigiTimes reports the chip will use a 10 nanometer manufacturing process, like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 and Samsung’s Exynos 8895. The chip should be even faster than the A10 Fusion processor, which has been heralded by critics as the best mobile phone processor.

New reports indicate that the new A11 chip is set to soon enter production, according to Economic Daily News, which notes that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will begin production of the new A11 chip in April, and will aim to produce 50 million chips before July. Not only that, but the firm will reportedly produce 100 million chips before the end of 2017. According to Chinese research firm Trendforce, the upcoming iPhone’s will have plenty of internal storage as they may come in 64GB and 256GB configurations.

Apple is also looking to build its own graphics processor for the iPhone, though we may not see this technology until later models.

Wireless charging

Apple has long been rumored to be working on wireless charging for a future version of the iPhone, and rumors suggest it will use its own self-built tech — but that doesn’t mean third-parties won’t develop their own wireless charging accessories for the phone.

In fact after Apple joined the Wireless Power Consortium, popular wireless charger manufacturer Powermat said it will work to support whatever wireless charging standard the new iPhone uses. Some reports have indicated that the device will support Qi charging, however, others indicate that the device may use a modified version of Qi that won’t work with standard Qi chargers, like the Apple Watch. Reuters reports that Apple has at least five different groups working on wireless charging technology.

The Wall Street Journal said in February that Apple will ditch the iPhone’s Lightning port in favor of USB Type-C, the industry standard connector for smartphones, laptops, and chargers. It isn’t clear from the report if Apple means to replace the iPhone’s Lightning port with a Type-C port or if it will simply adopt Type-C for the phone’s wall charger, and retain the Lightning port on the iPhone X itself.

A separate report by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed the iPhone X will have a more expensive logic board design, allowing for longer battery life, according to MacRumors. The new logic-board design would allow for the OLED iPhone to have dimensions similar to a 4.7-inch iPhone, but it could offer comparable battery life to a 5.5-inch iPhone.

Kuo expects the iPhone X to have a 2,700mAh L-shaped two-cell battery pack. The OLED display could also allow the device to be more energy-efficient, meaning the device could have better battery life than previous 5.5-inch iPhones.

Rear dual camera setup and “revolutionary” 3D front camera

Rumors suggests the iPhone X has a thing or two in common with Microsoft’s depth-sensing Kinect sensor. According to a report published by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the upcoming iPhone’s front camera boasts a “revolutionary” infrared sensor that can sense the three-dimensional space in front of it.

It’s said to be aimed at taking selfies. According to Kuo, the front sensor merges depth information with 2D images for features like facial recognition in tandem with Touch ID. It could be used to replace a video game character’s head with that of the user, or to generate a 3D selfie that would integrate seamlessly with virtual reality applications.  The technology is being developed by PrimeSense, the company behind Microsoft’s Kinect; and Apple is likely to open these 3D scanning capabilities to third-party developers.

This front-camera may also be used to power iris-sensor technology, like Samsung’s Galaxy S8.

The iPhone’s front camera isn’t the handset’s only highlight. It’ll boast dual vertical cameras, according to Mac Otakara, likely with functionality similar to the cameras on the existing iPhone 7 Plus.

According to a report from The Korea Economic Daily, Apple is collaborating with LG to create a dual-camera module that would allow for 3D photography. While Apple previously patented 3D-object and gesture recognition, it’s unclear whether the upcoming iPhone will bring these patents to life.

Better water resistance, and glass, ceramic, steel?

iPhone 7 Plus

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

KGI Securities Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests that Apple may experiment with either glass, ceramic, or plastic backs on the iPhone X. But new rumors suggest that Apple may go with a stainless steel frame instead. If the report from DigiTimes is true, it would mark a return to the material for Apple —  it was last used in the iPhone 4S.

The iPhone 7 was the first device in the iPhone family that could be submerged up to a meter underwater for 30 minutes. Naturally, rumor has it that Apple’s going to take it a step further with the next iPhones, ramping up the IP rating from IP67 to IP68 and putting it on par with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and Galaxy S8. That rumor comes from the Korea Herald, which cites “multiple sources.” Most people will hardly notice a difference, to be fair. The IP68-rating allows submersion up to about 1.5 meters for 30 minutes, a minor improvement over the 1 meter depth for IP67-certified devices.

Naming, release date and price

Despite being known as the iPhone 8 in many rumors, the phone may come alongside the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus in late 2017. This may confuse things for 2018, when an iPhone 8 would be more logical if we follow Apple’s usual naming traditions.

An alternative name that is reportedly being considered is the iPhone X. Cool, right? This comes from anonymous sources speaking to Fast Company, who also claim the device will have a 5.8-inch OLED screen, no bezels, and a body made of stainless steel. The glass back from older iPhone models may make a return, and the familiar home button may disappear under the screen. Even the volume and sleep/wake keys may be replaced with touch-sensitive panels instead. All of these new features may come at a steep price, with a tag in excess of $1,000.

Apple traditionally launches a new iPhone every year in September, but the latest reports indicate things may be a little different this year. According to an analyst’s research note for investment banking firm Drexel Hamilton, obtained by MacRumors, the iPhone X may be delayed several weeks after the September reveal due to challenges around its 3D-sensing technology — though it will still be available in time for the December holidays.

“Since it is only April, this situation could improve,” the analyst said, according to MacRumors. “Essentially, our contact believes customers will be able to pre-order the new 5.8-inch iPhone X along with the new 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones in September; however, the 5.8-inch iPhone X will not be available for delivery until several weeks later.”

This lines up with previous reports from Economic Daily News, which said the new iPhone X won’t be delivered until October or November.

Article originally published on 07-25-2016 by Kyle Wiggers. Updated on 04-07-2017 by Julian Chokkattu: Added rumors about a delayed release cycle for the iPhone X. Revamped article with newer information, changed most iPhone 8 references to iPhone X.