14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is known to be working hard on a new smartphone to celebrate ten years since the first iPhone was announced. Recent reports revealed that iPhone 8 could arrive towards the end of this year, but analysts from Barclays are now saying that it will be announced in September.
Several Barclays analysts have revealed for MacRumors that iPhone 8 will be announced and released in September, together with iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus, the direct successors to last year’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
The catch is that the new iPhone 8 won’t be widely available until the fourth quarter of the year, which starts this October. Analysts say that Apple will provide the iPhone 8 in a limited supply at first, while a larger batch of devices will be made available at a later date.
iPhone 8 could feature a 5.8-inch display
Apple’s decision to release only a small batch of iPhone 8 units at first could be related to limited components supply, considering that the new iPhone is said to come with an OLED display, a major change from the LED screens that Apple usually incorporates in its phones. This is just speculation at this point, as we’ll have to wait and see what Apple has in store for the phone that will mark the ten-year anniversary.
Nonetheless, rumors say that the upcoming iPhone 8 will have a 5.8-inch display and almost unnoticeable bezels, but the phone’s overall size might be the same as the current iPhone 7 model, which has a 4.7-inch screen. Moreover, it could have Touch ID embedded directly into the display and have a specially designated area for virtual buttons, since the physical home button is rumored to be ditched. Wireless charging features could also be added.
Still, we can’t say for sure that the phone will carry the iPhone 8 moniker; there have been reports saying that it might be called the iPhone X or iPhone Edition.