The Apple iPhone 8 has been in the rumor mills for quite some time now even though Cupertino hasn’t even confirmed its existence.
Like the new Samsung Galaxy S8, the rumored iPhone 8 is expected to debut with a completely new design that no iPhone has seen before. Some of the controversial changes expected include a missing Touch ID and instead, this feature will live on the display screen. There’s also talk of a new curved OLED screen for the phone, with Apple reportedly having placed an order of about 70 million OLED panels from Samsung.
Most reports about the iPhone 8 claim that the phone will not force Apple into ditching its usual sequence of updating the iPhone. Given that 2017 is an S year, many are adamant that Apple will still launch the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus as the official successors of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
If all goes according to plan, the iPhone 7S series will be unveiled in September, just like previous iPhone models. Apparently, the latest reports claim that this event might not feature the release of the much-anticipated iPhone 8. Instead, the tech giant could delay the launch of the phone until October or November. The main reason behind this slight delay is reportedly the differences that exist in the display lamination process as well as challenges associated with integrating the 3D sensing front-facing camera.
Even though hard to believe, this rumor adds more weight to a similar report that popped up last month suggesting that the iPhone 8 could go on sale a little later than usual. The switch from LCD to OLED panels as well as the new technologies that Apple is rumored to equip the phone with are some of the reasons that were cited to be behind this delay.
If this materializes, we would end up with the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus in September, as usual, while the iPhone 8 will follow up later, something that is so untypical of Apple. What this basically means is that the company will hold an event for the iPhone 7S and hold another for the iPhone 8. On the contrary, it could also make more sense if the iPhone 8 was unveiled at the same time with the iPhone 7S only that it won’t be available for purchase at the same time as its counterparts.
Update: According to a report stumbled upon by Mac Rumors, the iPhone 8 prices will reportedly start at $850 and rise up to $900 for the base 64GB model. If you want the 256GB variant, the phone will be yours for an impressive $950, a price that could rise to $1000 or slightly below this figure. So far, the high-end iPhone 7 Plus is valued at around the same price of $970, which won’t make such a difference, especially since there’s talk of a high-end Galaxy S8+ priced at $1030.