After the disaster that has befallen Samsung Galaxy Note 7, the talk has now shifted to what Samsung has in store for the next Galaxy flagships.
While this is happening, Apple is also having its own plan up and running with respect to the 2017 iPhone 8 Plus, a phone that is expected to step up its rivalry against the Galaxy Note series. According to new reports, Samsung is working on a 10nm Exynos 8895 SoC that will be used in the Galaxy S8. Considering what has happened with the past two releases, we expect this same chipset to be used in the Galaxy Note 8, which will be released in the second half of 2017.
The Exynos 8895 will be paired with a Mali-G71 GPU, an upgraded version of the current Mali-T880 MP12 that is found in the Exynos 8890 used on the Galaxy Note 7 and Galaxy S7. Like this year where Samsung used an Exynos 8890 and a Snapdragon 820 SoC on its phone, it is also expected that there will be a Galaxy Note 8 variant that packs a Snapdragon 830 SoC.
An even newer report has surfaced adding that the 4K Super AMOLED display expected to feature on the Galaxy Note 8 will possibly come with support for pressure-sensitive technology, something similar to what Apple offers with 3D Touch. With this upgrade, the Note 8 should be on level terms with the iPhone 8 Plus, which should keep and even improve what 3D Touch offers on the current iPhone 7 Plus.
Samsung has filed a patent for a feature that resembles 3D Touch, Patently Apple can reveal. Furthermore, the same report adds that Apple is working on pushing the Pencil to the 2017 iPhone 8 Plus, offering more of the same functionality as what the S-Pen does. This could be a huge step up from Apple, especially considering that the Pencil is already growing popular with iPad users.
To fight back, Samsung may reportedly opt to improve on the waterproofing aspect of the Galaxy Note 8 by getting rid of one speaker grille and instead introduce a brand new S Pen design that will double as a speaker. With the Galaxy Note 8 and iPhone 8 Plus not expected until the second half of 2017, it is actually too early to start coming in with conclusions about these two. However, considering the massive blow the Galaxy Note 7 has dealt Samsung, it isn’t a surprise details of the next Note are already showing up. As for Apple, the only notable addition to the iPhone 7 Plus was a superior dual-lens camera and double the previous amount of storage options. The company has publicly confirmed that the big changes have been saved for 2017, so, like the Galaxy Note 8, the Apple phablet will be hard to miss in the rumor mills.