It's hard to keep track of all the latest rumors surrounding Apple's latest device, but if even half of them are true, the iPhone 8 is shaping up to be a doozy. Fans have every right to expect that from the next edition of the iPhone—it's the tenth-anniversary edition of the device, after all—so Apple is going to have to do their best to live up to the speculation and hype.
While Apple tends to avoid commenting on any rumors surrounding their newest devices, there's enough intel out there to start sorting through all the noise. Here's a list of some of the biggest rumors surrounding the iPhone 8 at the moment, ordered from most to least legit.
While it's painful to start with one of the most dreaded rumors connected to the iPhone 8, it's also a reflection of how serious you have to take the rest of the rumored features. If you want to add more things to the phone, it's going to come with a price hike that matches newer, more advanced features.
The four-figure tag sounds like a lot—and it is!—but it's really not a huge step up from what you're already paying for your current device. A jump of around $100-200 depending on the model you bought last year makes complete sense, especially given how much the average person uses their phone for these days. So, while it's not the best news a buyer wants to hear, it is the most likely.
Frankly, Apple is already a little behind the times when it comes to the implementation of wireless charging. After they took the step to remove headphone jacks from the iPhone, critics quickly pointed out that it was impossible to charge your device and use the same earbuds Apple provided with the devices.
Apple has taken steps to get the company up to speed on wireless charging through hires and tech investments, and there's really no excuse for the feature not to be included in the next iPhone update.
The standard iPhone 8 will be bigger? V. legit
One of the biggest culprits in the iPhone's skyrocketing sticker price? A change in the materials they're rumored to be using for the new phone's display. This is a rumor that goes back months, to when the tech giant placed an order for millions of OLED screens for undisclosed reasons.
In the time since, experts have since tied the screen change to the iPhone's rumored rise in cost. Apple looks like it's committed to using OLED displays for their new device and if/how they're going to be implemented will have an impact on both the price and the subsequent features that come packaged with the iPhone 8.
No home button? Pretty legit
Consumers are increasingly using Touch ID to protect their data, so it has to be a big factor in design decisions for the new iPhone. Though the loss of a Home button would seem to be the killing blow for Touch ID, several reports have indicated Apple found a way to implement it in a different way.
This rumor likely hinges around whether the Home button has actually gone the way of the dinosaur. Once again, this is probably the direction Apple wants to go in, and it's probably feasible for them to achieve. Because of the inherent security issues tied to Touch ID, however, this isn't a step likely to be rushed forward before it's 100 percent ready and foolproof.
As storage has grown cheaper over time, giving more space to customers has become easier for phone companies to account for in their bottom line. A majority of consumers go for the base model when they purchase a new phone, so providing more from the jump helps Apple avoid an avalanche of complaints.
Apple has signaled with previous releases that 128 GB would be the new normal in their phones; the Jet Black edition of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus does not come with a 32 GB option, hinting that the company would like to phase it out eventually. But with rising costs already impacting the iPhone's, it's not clear whether taking the leap is a priority for Apple for this iPhone release.
Apple has made it a habit of releasing their phones in September, releasing five of their last six models sometime during the month of September. So when the first rumor came out about a release date and tapped September 25 as the big day, no one blinked an eye.
Under further scrutiny, however, it doesn't really make sense. The primary reason is tied to the day of the week—September 25 is a Monday, and releasing a new product to start the week would be a radical shift from industry trends. Aside from the SE release in March 2016, every single Apple release has come on a Friday, and they aren't likely to buck that trend for their anniversary edition.
If we had to guess, September 15 or September 22 would be the dates to put your money on.
As part of a broader analysis of speculated features in the new iPhone, an analyst from JP Morgan suggested Apple's popular Air Pods would be bundled alongside the upcoming device. This would be great, and it would be an additional boost to fixing the Lightning port problem, but it's not going to happen.
Look no further than the bottom line for the explanation to this one. Air Pods retail for $159 on Apple's website and there's still a six-week wait on new orders almost half a year after they released. Apple has always been happy to bundle their cheap earbuds, but frankly it would be irresponsible to throw a hot product with a big price tag in for nothing. And if they do decide to do this? Watch that iPhone price tag climb even higher.
