iPhone 8

Nikkei: Apple places order for 70 million bendable OLEDs for iPhone 8 with Samsung

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 3, 2017

Apple has placed a huge order for seventy million bendable organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels with Samsung's display-making arm for use in iPhone 8, Nikkei reported Monday. Apple and Samsung Display, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, signed a deal last year to supply 100 million OLEDs for iPhone 8. In February 2017, Apple contracted Samsung to build an additional 60 million OLEDs for a total of 160 million units in 2017.

Barclays: iPhone 8 to sport 3D sensors on both front and back

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 31, 2017

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, along with a few other sources, believes Apple will bet heavily on augmented reality with iPhone 8. He predicted the device's front-facing camera will use a bespoke 3D sensor to let users take 3D selfies, map their surroundings, scan nearly any real-world object in three dimensions and more.

Analysts Andrew Gardiner, Hiral Patel, Joseph Wolf, Blayne Curtis and Mark Moskowitz reported in a Friday research note, obtained by 9to5Mac, that iPhone 8 may use a second 3D sensor out the back for augmented reality features.

Barclays: 2017 iPhones will have True Tone display

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 31, 2017

According to research note from Barclays, obtained by MacRumors, all three iPhone models this year will adopt True Tone technology that's currently available only on the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.

The research notes states that both Apple's rumored all-new iPhone 8 model with an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display and the iterative LCD-based iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus will each include a “full spectral sensing” ambient light sensor to support a “True Color” screen.

Silly rumor claims iPhone 8 will feature vertical dual-cameras and Touch ID on the back

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 29, 2017

iDropNews, a blog without a proven track record, is claiming that Apple will move its Touch ID fingerprint reader to the back of iPhone 8. Citing an unnamed source who allegedly spoke privately with a Foxconn employee, the blog made other bold claims, saying iPhone 8 would come outfitted with vertical cameras, while reiterating some of the previously mentioned features, including “iPhone Edition” branding.

iPhone 8’s augmented reality 3D sensor could be built by Himax Technologies

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 28, 2017

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that iPhone 8's front-facing camera would take advantage of a new sensor for “revolutionary” features such as augmented reality applications, advanced facial recognition, 3D selfies, 3D object scanning/modeling and more. Tuesday, Barron's noted that Apple may have contracted a company called Himax Technologies to build the rumored sensor for Apple's OLED-based iPhone 8.

Volume production of Apple-designed A11 chips for iPhone 8 kicking off in April

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 27, 2017

Apple's favorite chip foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), is about to kick off volume production of a new Apple-designed A11 chip widely expected to serve as the engine for new iOS devices this year, including an all-new iPhone 8 with an OLED display and the iterative iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus with LCD screens.

Barclays: iPhone 8 to launch in September, but will be hard to come by

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 23, 2017

According to the latest research from Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis, Christopher Hemmelgarn, Thomas O'Malley and Jerry Zhang, obtained by MacRumors, Apple may still launch iPhone 8 in September alongside the iterative iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus series, albeit in limited quantity. However, the majority of iPhone 8 stock may not be available until much later in the fourth quarter.

In other words, the company's Tenth Anniversary iPhone aka “iPhone Edition” may be hard to come by when it debuts in September (like Jet Black iPhone 7 models last year).

iPhone 8 said to feature rounded water drop design similar to the original iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

Apple's next iPhone, affectionally dubbed by the media “Tenth Anniversary iPhone”, will have curves similar to those of the original model, which was released ten years ago in 2007, Korean site ETNews said Monday. In paying homage to the original iPhone, the casing of Apple’s next phone is thought to adopt “water drop design” with rounded curves on both its front and back, just like the original model. “Apple’s next iPhone will have a rear case made of glass,” an industry official said. “This glass case is a curved wall surrounded by four sides,” as per machine translation of the original article.

Galaxy S8 may capture slow motion video at 1,000 FPS & cost less than iPhone 8

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

According to prolific smartphone leakster Evan Blass, Samsung's regular Galaxy S8 and the rumored Galaxy S8 Plus models will occupy prices between Apple's iterative iPhone 7s and a new premium iPhone 8 model that will likely cost more than $1,000 unlocked. Blass also shared genuine-looking press renderings of the next Galaxy smartphone.

Meanwhile, SamMobile is reporting that Galaxy S8's slow motion video capture mode could blow iPhone 7 out of the water with the ability to capture a thousand frames per second. Apple's camera partner Sony recently announced a new 19-megapixel CMOS sensor (IMX400), built it into the new Xperia XZ Premium, that can capture slo-mo video at 960 frames per second.

New Bloomberg report details Apple’s AR efforts

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in a new report Monday offered a deeper insight into Apple's next big thing—the company's secretive efforts related to augmented reality (AR) technologies which reportedly include an iPhone-connected digital spectacles that the news organization previously said would launch in 2018.

Citing people with knowledge of Apple's plans, the report states that the company's built a team combining the strengths of its hardware and software veterans with the expertise of talented outsiders. The group is allegedly being run by former Dolby Laboratories executive Mike Rockwell and includes engineers who worked on Facebook's Oculus and Microsoft's HoloLens virtual reality headsets “as well as digital-effects wizards from Hollywood.”

New report says iPhone 8 has a slightly curved display at the edges below 2.5D cover glass

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 16, 2017

Nikkei Asian Review yesterday shot down predictions by IHS Markit analyst Wayne Lam and DisplayMate expert Dr. Raymond Soneira who said Apple's 5.8-inch iPhone 8 will use a flat rather than a curved display. However, MacRumors has allegedly confirmed with multiple people familiar with the matter that the phone will indeed come outfitted with a mostly flat AMOLED display.

The device's display will reportedly feature slightly curved left and right edges in order to conform with the layer of 2.5D glass that covers the screen.

iPhone 8 may have (slightly) curved screen after all

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 15, 2017

Contradicting a recent report, Japanese outlet Nikkei Asian Review wrote Wednesday that Apple's rumored 5.8-inch iPhone will have a display based on active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) technology that's slightly curved on the sides, but not as curved as Samsung's Galaxy series.

A source familiar with the handset's design said the curve of the iPhone 8 screen will be “gentler” than the screen curvature of Samsung's Edge handsets because of the challenges of making curved glass covers to match screens.