GETTY • MARTIN HAJEK • FLICKR
If these leaked iPhone 8 prices are real, this is easily the most expensive Apple smartphone to date
iPhone 8 is set to be unveiled at an exclusive media event held in the Steve Jobs Theatre, located in Apple’s new California headquarters, on September 12th.
The next-generation smartphone will sit alongside two iterative updates to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, colloquially dubbed iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus.
The all-new premium iPhone – believed to be named iPhone 8, iPhone Edition or iPhone Pro – is rumoured to ship with a dramatic new industrial design and feature-set.
Unfortunately, Apple looks set to charge a premium for the privilege.
Tipster Benjamin Geskin, who has shared a number of details and leaked components ahead of the iPhone 8 launch, has published the purported retail prices for the new handset.
Apple iPhone 8 – Leaked photos, prototypes, concept images, and renders
Sun, January 1, 2017
iPhone 8 is shaping up to be one of the most impressive Apple smartphones to date, with glass panels on the front and rear of the device, a curved borderless OLED display and no Home Button
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Apple iPhone 8 will debut a brand-new all-glass look, with a curved OLED display
According to the leakster, Apple will ship three iPhone 8 models with three storage configurations.
The phone with 64GB of inbuilt storage will retail for $999, 256GB for $1,099 and a new 512GB tier for $1,199.
It’s unclear whether these prices factor in US taxes.
At the time of writing, those prices equate to £770 for 64GB, £845 for 256GB and £922 for 512GB.
Earlier this summer a report from The New York Times claimed the new premium iPhone would start from $999, which aligns with these prices from Benjamin Geskin.
Apple’s current smartphone line-up of devices starts at £599 for the iPhone 7 with 32GB of onboard storage, but quickly rises to £919 for the maxed-out iPhone 7 Plus.
This would comfortably place the entry-level iPhone 8 above the most expensive configuration of the other iPhone models.
This new design is rumoured to jettison the physical Home Button, enabling the high-resolution display to bleed to the very edges of the device.
Apple looks set to incorporate the functionality built into the Home Button into 3D Touch gestures.
APPLE
Apple offers no clues about the new iPhone in its latest media event invitation
It is not yet known how Apple will replicate the Touch ID fingerprint scanner technology previous embedded into the physical button.
Some reports have suggested Apple will embed the fingerprint scanner beneath the display, while others anticipate the sensor being relocated to the back of the phone, like a number of high-profile Android handsets.
Apple pundit Mark Gurman, who is typically very reliable when it comes to details on unannounced Apple devices, believes Touch ID will be dropped entirely in favour of face-scanning.
According to his sources, the face scanning technology will be used to log-in, authenticate contactless payments and open secure iOS apps.
iPhone 8 will purportedly use a new 3D sensor on the front of the device to scan users’ faces.
TWITTER • @PHONEDESIGNER
Designer Jonas Daehnert has shown how the virtual Home Button could be displayed
According to those working on the new technology, the sensor is capable of scanning a user’s face and unlocking the iPhone in a few hundred milliseconds.
It is designed to work even when the smartphone is placed on a table – rather than only working when the sensor is held-up close to the face, it has been reported.
The sensor records more individual data points than a fingerprint scanner, which in theory, makes it more secure than Touch ID.
The 3D face scanning camera will be housed on the front of the iPhone in a small notch at the top of the edge-to-edge display.
Elsewhere, iPhone 8 looks set to include OIS, Optical Image Stabilisation, for both lens used in the rear dual-camera set-up.
It is also expected to ship with an OLED display with True Tone, a technology Apple debuted with its 9.7inch iPad Pro that changes the warmth of the display based on the environment around it at any given time.