The iPhone will celebrate its ten-year anniversary next year. To commemorate the big milestone, Apple is said to be making big changes, including skipping the ‘s’ nomenclature to move directly to the iPhone 8. As always, the rumours have started to pick up pace, and the latest one brings exciting design changes. The iPhone 8 is now tipped to sport bezel-less design with curved edges on all sides.
The latest leak comes from Barclays’ analysts Blayne Curtis and Christopher Hemmelgarn who cite supply chain sources they met during a trip to Asia. The analysts claim that the iPhone 8 models will have the same sizes overall, but their display sizes will increase to 5-inch and 5.8-inch because of the bezel-less design vision.
While they didn’t speak about a third variant in the offing, the analyst did stress on Apple’s shift to OLED display panels. These new displays are said to be more battery efficient, and offer better colour accuracy and deeper blacks. Also the plastic OLED panels will allow the iPhone 8 screen to bend at the edges and introduce curved-edges on all sides. The OLED panels are going to be exclusive to the iPhone 8 Plus model, and will be manufactured by Samsung and LG for now. Foxconn-acquired Sharp was expected to manufacture the OLED panels, but due to supply issues, Sharp will only be able to come through in production volume by 2018.
The analysts also suggest that Apple’s 3D Touch may see a change to a new ‘film-based solution’. Currently, the iPhone 7 uses a flexible PCB technology to bring in 3D Touch on the smartphone. Past leaks further indicate that the iPhone 8 will come with advanced wireless charging technology that will allow users to charge the phone even from 15 feet away, without the need of a wireless charging plate.Apart from that, the iPhone 8 is tipped to sport an all-glass back, a new A11 processor, and a new Touch ID system.