Watch: iPhone 8 release date, price, rumours and news

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Watch: iPhone 8 release date, price, rumours and news
An artist's impression, courtesy iPhone8Guides.com

Rumours say Apple is testing at least 10 prototypes for its 10th anniversary edition smartphone, and one of them apparently folds!

By Web Report

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Published: Mon 2 Jan 2017, 11:00 PM

Last updated: Wed 4 Jan 2017, 7:55 AM

Apple's iPhone 8 will be its 10th anniversary iPhone - so, expect big things, naturally. It was on June 29, 2007, that the legendary Steve Jobs presented the first iPhone to the world.
 
And while Apple has since moved the annual iPhone launch month to September, there is no doubt in anyone's mind that Tim Cook would want Apple's latest iPhone to blow everyone's mind off.
 
The Cupertino-based tech giant is known to be secretive about its upcoming devices, and it'll surely be extra cautious about its anniversary edition iPhone.
 
But social media is a great grapevine peddler, and things can only remain so much under wraps when it comes to Apple and its iPhone.
 
Rumour has it that Apple is testing no less than 10 prototypes for the 10th anniversary edition - so anything that we know (or we think we know) may not see the light of the day, at least with iPhone 8.
 
That said, here's what we know so far - or we think we know so far:
 
Radical redesign
According to MacRumours, "Apple has a major iPhone redesign planned for 2017, with a glass body and edge-to-edge OLED display that includes an integrated Touch ID fingerprint sensor and front-facing camera." The new iPhone, it speculates, may be sold alongside upgraded (but standard) 4.7- and 5.5-inch iPhones.
 
More importantly, the iPhone 8 may do away with Apple's iconic Home button. And, this gets interesting, Apple is also considering a flexible OLED display. Will that mean an iPhone you can fold and put in your pocket? Well, we think not, but. we might get a curved display if we're lucky. Or even one similar to Samsung's 'edge' display.
 
Apple is also prototyping an all-glass design. No bezels. All display. And guess who's helping Apple build such a display? Samsung!
 
Stronger inside
In its belly, the iPhone 8 will host the 10-nanometer A11 chip that will help enable "long-range wireless charging", allowing the device to charge via a charger kept up to 15ft away. Nifty.
 
The same A11 will also be able to deal with an iris scanner in the iPhone 8. Apple is also rumoured to be unveiling the 10.3 Theater Mode iOS within the first couple of weeks this year - and that's an OS exclusive to iPhone 8, or so it's been said.
 
What about a foldable iPhone 8?
Okay since you're so hung up on the 'foldable' bit, here's some bit of juicy rumour for you. Apple may actually be considering a special variant of the iPhone 8 - codenamed Ferrari - that will "fold" into two separate displays, like with the portable gaming consoles.
 
It's got a patent on just such a display, says Patently Apple, and we found it extremely interesting.
 
If this has to happen, then it'll surely befit the 10th anniversary edition, considering that Apple got the patent in 2014 but managed to keep it under wraps until November 2016.
 
What about the price?
Apple seems to like the price-point it is at right now ($649; Dh2,599 and going all the way up to Dh3,899 for the 256GB 7 Plus model) although the 'Ferrari' is likely to set you back by much more.


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