The leakiest rumor mill besides the Trump White House is back in full force. With new models of the iPhone 8 set to drop some time this year, tech sites are swirling with reports that Apple’s latest version may be a top-to-bottom revamp, updating everything from screen aesthetics to colors, battery life to charging.
One of the biggest recent splashes in the smartphone category has been Samsung Galaxy’s full-surface, wraparound screen (unfortunately, the combustible Galaxy 8’s didn’t come with literal splashes), and the iPhone will likely have the same feature: The Verge and CNN reported that Apple secured a patent for a wraparound screen last summer.
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This week, Apple Insider reported that the iPhone 8 will have longer battery life and faster charging that is wireless — repeat, that is wireless — largely thanks to a switch from LCD to OLED screens.
And today, Mashable shared a concept video that reveals how the 8 might look, aggregating the reports so far. The video illustrates new black and white colorways, a speaker built into the screen and elimination of the home button:
Considering that Apple’s most notable iPhone upgrades in recent years ranged from superfluous to outright infuriating, this version seems promising. Some of those misses include the “space gray” color, the new Lightning power jack that nobody asked for (and was widely seen as a cash grab) and the elimination of the standard headphone jack that caused shrieks of separation anxiety to sweep the populace. New major upgrades can only help attract smartphone buyers who have more options than ever before (and were becoming bored with the iPhone) and boost Apple’s rep for innovation, which is now seen as snoozy.
Although Apple fanboys are surely dusting off their stadium chairs in anticipation of those night-before-release-day queues around the block, the new models aren’t expected to hit stores until September.
