Possible features you should look out for in iPhone 8
Today is the big day. September 12.
If you are still not sure why, well it is because Apple is launching the completely redesigned iPhone 8 with edge-to-edge display and likely updates for the two existing iPhones today!
Edge-to-edge OLED display
The most prominent new feature for the iPhone 8 will be its display. Apple is reportedly switching to OLED technology from LCD, reports Mashable.
This means people will get more vibrant colors with greater dynamic range and deeper blacks, but also increased brightness and greater power efficiency since each pixel only lights up when it's turned on.
The screen is expected to measure 5.8-inches, corner-to-corner with rounded corners, reports Mashable.com. "Data extracted from the leaked HomePod firmware suggests it'll have a 2,436 x 1,125 resolution," Mashable reports according to iOS developer Steven Troughton-Smith.
Glass and stainless steel body
Since the iPhone 5, the iPhone has had a unibody aluminum design. However it is all going to change with the iPhone 8, which is most possibly going to come with a polished stainless steel frame and hardened glass back.
Apple has used this combination of materials before on the iPhone 4 and 4S, but there is a big reason why it is returning to them.
Wireless charging
Glass is a better material for wireless signals to pass through, which is why phones with built-in wireless charging.
This will be the first time Apple includes a wireless charging in an iPhone. While early rumors claimed the iPhone 8 would have some kind of long distance wireless charging, it is now believed Apple might go with the more common inductive Qi standard, reports Mashable.
It is also very possible the iPhone 8's wireless charging will charge up just as fast as with a Lightning cable.
No home button
That edge-to-edge display means a big screen in a smaller body, but it also means there won't be any room for the iconic home button, reports Mashable.
New gestures for doing things
Without a home button, how will anyone ever return to the home screen or open up the App Switcher? A report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has revealed Apple will use new gestures to replace the home button, reports Mashable.
There will reportedly be a thin bar at the bottom of the iPhone 8's display, which you'll be able to swipe up to bring up the App Switcher. Keep swiping up and you'll go back to the home screen, the report claims.
As for the current swipe-up gesture for bringing up Control Center — it could be replaced by a right swipe gesture or some other 3D Touch gesture.
Goodbye Touch ID
The removal of the home button also means the fingerprint sensor will disappear. Earlier reports said Apple would put the fingerprint sensor underneath the display or even on the back below the Apple logo, but those are unlikely to happen.
Embedding a fingerprint sensor underneath the display has proven to be extremely challenging, not just for Apple, but for competitors like Samsung, who was forced to put the sensor on the back of the S8 and Note 8.
3D face recognition
Replacing the Touch ID fingerprint sensor will most likely be some kind of advanced 3D face recognition, aided by either a new iris scanner or improved selfie camera.
According to the Korean Herald, the iPhone 8 will have a "facial recognition scanner with 3D sensors" that can detect faces in "millionths of a second" for unlocking the device. Similarly, TechCrunch says the face recognition, codenamed "Pearl ID", could read your face even when the phone's just sitting on your desk, reports Mashable.com. In other words, you could unlock the iPhone 8 with just a glance.
The new face recognition will also reportedly replace Touch ID as the method of authentication for Apple Pay.
Improved rear cameras
See that huge vertically-aligned camera bump with dual cameras on the back of the phone? Yeah, there's definitely something going on there.
Each iPhone has brought some kind of leap in the cameras and the iPhone 8 will be no different. Whether it's more megapixels or better low-light performance, there will be better cameras. Apple's not going to let those 800 people who work on the camera go to waste this year.
More importantly, it's very likely the new cameras will improve augmented reality apps made with ARKit.
High prices
All of these new features aren't going to come cheap. Several reports — Fast Company, the New York Times, Daring Fireball, etc. — claim the iPhone 8 will cost around $999 for the entry-level model, reports Mashable.
Source: Mashable
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