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August 28, 2017
Everything We Know About the iPhone 8 So Far
What's up, guys? TK here for Complex News. 2017 marks the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, and Apple likely has something major planned to celebrate the occasion—the debut of the iPhone 8. The world is impatiently waiting and the drop can't come soon enough. In the meantime, we have a bunch of rumors to keep us occupied. One of the most recent and relevant rumors is the device's actual release date. According to French website Mac4Ever, the launch event for the iPhone 8 could take place on Tuesday, September 12, with pre-orders becoming available on Friday, September 15. The full rollout is expected to come a week later, on Friday, September 22. Mac4Ever says this timeline comes from phone operators who were given advance notice of the dates, in order to handle the predictable traffic that will coincide with the phone's release. Now that we know when the phone is likely to drop, let's break down the anticipated features. The iPhone 8 is expected to have a radical redesign. One of the major changes is the possible elimination of Touch ID. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that 3D-sensing facial recognition software is expected to take its place. "It can scan a user’s face and unlock the iPhone within a few hundred milliseconds. ... The intent is for it to replace the Touch ID fingerprint scanner." On top of that change, it's been reported that there will be no physical Home button on the iPhone 8, and no bezels, aside from a small area for the front-facing camera. The new iPhone is expected to have an edge-to-edge design, with the display of the phone estimated to be around 5.8 inches, versus 4.7 and 5.5 inches for the 7 and 7 Plus, respectively. The display itself is reported to be a flexible plastic OLED, instead of the current LCD. This would allow Apple to create a thinner device that consumes less power and offers a better display, with more true-to-life colors and higher contrast ratio. As for the body of the phone, rumors suggest Apple is finally moving away from the aluminum it's used for the iPhone since version 5. Instead, it will feature a glass body similar to the one used for the iPhone 4. According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the glass will be built around a polished, stainless steel frame, reminiscent of the Apple Watch design. Allen Fung, general manager of battery and accessories company RAVpower, recently told Mashable that the new iPhone will also boast wireless charging. "Our sources tell us the next iPhones have special technology for wireless charging. ... Our wireless charger will wirelessly charge the next iPhones at full speed, as well as being able to charge other mobile devices wirelessly." Last, but not least, your selfie game is about to level all the way up. According to BGR, the iPhone 8 camera will be upgraded to support 4K video and shoot 60 frames per second on both the front- and rear-facing cameras. The iPhone 7 can only shoot in 4K from the rear-facing camera, at 30 frames per second. Meanwhile, its front-facing camera shoots at a measly 1080p. So how much is this bad boy gonna cost? The New York Times reported that a "premium model" will go for around $999, via anonymous sources who have been briefed on the product. But we won't know the real number until Apple reveals it. There's one thing we know for sure: iPhone fans will be camped out in front of every store carrying the new phone, regardless of the final features. To find out more about the devices that may or may not control our lives, make sure to subscribe to Complex on YouTube. For Complex News, I'm TK.
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