Today marks the last day of February, meaning we can safely count on two things to start happening with alarming frequency over the next few months. Your Instagram feed, regrettably, will become inundated with procrastinating lames trying way too hard to shed that leftover winter poundage. Also, you're going to start hearing a lot of design rumors leading up to the iPhone 8 drop.
Perhaps the wildest of new rumors was reported by the Wall Street Journal Monday, with sources claiming Apple was planning to introduce a USB-C port for the power cord in place of the Lightning connector. "The models would also do away with a physical home button," the Journal's "people familiar with the matter" claimed. "Those updates would give the iPhone features already available on other smartphones."
This possibility, Gizmodopoints out, is puzzling. The Lightning vibes first entered the Apple world just five (admittedly long-feeling) years ago, quickly giving rise to an entire mini-industry built solely around Lightning and Lightning-related accessories. Most recently, Apple gave the traditional headphone jack a funeral before burdening Lightning with headphone duty.
The Journal's report also touches on the previously pondered rumor that Apple was prepping a curved display (possibly with no home button). At least one model from the rumored fleet of new iPhones will feature a curved OLED screen, i.e. something similar to Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. A higher end model of the new iPhone, according to these same sources, will also be released and is alleged to set dedicated Apple buyers back about $1,000.
The excitement surrounding a new iPhone is a little more overwhelming this year, as its release will mark the 10th anniversary of the game-changing device. Though we should probably expect some changes of this caliber to be announced in true anniversary fashion, these fresh rumors of a switch to USB-C charging are pretty jarring for us Lightning fans and would—if not for their appearance in the goddamn Wall Street Journal—usually be taken with a measured helping of caution.
But let's trust Apple on this one. One consumer nation under Apple, indivisible, with liberty and data overages for all.
