Apple’s latest high-end device has the internet buzzing, but what kind of product can people actually expect? …
Rumors about Apple’s iPhone 8 (aka iPhone X, aka iPhone Anniversary Edition) , began to spread last year, almost before the print was dry on Apple’s iPhone 7 announcements. With Apple’s September 12th unveil now less than a week away, some of those rumors have reached a fever pitch. But what, exactly, should consumers be expecting?
9to5Mac believes the new high-end phone will be called the iPhone Edition, making this the second time Apple has launched a halo product with that name, and the second time its branding has made no sense whatsoever. Hopefully the company sticks with iPhone X or iPhone 8, though it’s also been implied that the iPhone 8 / 8 Plus will actually be the devices we’ ve previously called the iPhone 7s / 7s Plus. Again, Apple may be skipping a number to bring itself in line with Samsung and to try and portray its entire product line this year as being a larger leap over the iPhone 7 than previous s-class products were over their non-s predecessors. This would be the first time since the iPhone 3GS launched in 2009 that Apple didn’ t use an “s” for a second-generation product family.
Other expected top-end features include an edge-to-edge screen at a resolution of 2436×1135. That’s a substantial jump over the iPhone 7, which has a 1334×750 display. An OLED panel is also expected. OLEDs aren’ t typically quite as power efficient as LCDs, though this is heavily influenced by content type and brightness settings. On a dark background or theme, OLEDs can use significantly less power than LCDs. On an all-white background, OLED power consumption can be significantly higher. If these resolution figures are accurate, it would give the Anniversary Device a 521 PPI display; far above what’s required for Retina quality. Overall screen area is expected to be higher than any previous Apple device, thanks to the edge-to-edge display.
The internet has no collective clue whether the Anniversary iPhone will have a fingerprint scanner. Multiple leaked images show no front-facing sensor or visible Home button.
Apple’s original goal, sources agree, was to embed a fingerprint scanner in the display itself. Samsung was reportedly also interested in this feature, but had to drop it and slap the fingerprint scanner on the back of its own phones once it became clear the technology wasn’ t going to be ready in time for the Galaxy S8 launch. Apple may have run into similar problems, despite having more time to work on the design. This leaves the company with two choices: It can stick the fingerprint sensor on the back, or it can use facial recognition + PIN for services like Apple Pay. Which option the company will go with is still unknown.
Alternately, Apple may have delayed shipping the device until it can hammer out problems in the sensor. The Inquirer reports that while Apple will take orders, it may not actually ship the phone until this holiday season. Other analysts disagree, so take this with a grain of salt. We might also see the company split the difference, with a handful of early orders and long ship times thereafter. It wouldn’ t be the first time Apple has launched a product with a 4-6 week shipping window for everyone but the first handful of users.
There are rumors of a front-facing camera that’s suitable for augmented reality, and dual back cameras for improved photos, possibly including 4K recording at 60 frames per second.
Analysts are assuming Apple will again target $649 and $749 for the two lower-end iPhone models. The high-end device is expected to cost $1,000 for 64GB of storage, $1,099 for 256GB, and $1,199 for 512GB. Various payment plans may make this easier to swallow, but that’s clearly a new frontier for phone prices, or at least one we haven’ t seen in many years.
The one thing no one is talking about is whether the iPhone Edition will be faster than the standard iPhone 7s / 7s Plus (or 8) that Apple ships at the same time. Typically phones are power-constrained, and Apple hasn’ t previously tried to use different SoCs between its standard and Plus-sized hardware. Presumably all three phones will use the same SoC and modem, with the difference between them boiling down to features like the OLED display and 512GB storage options. But as is typical, Apple hasn’ t clarified which devices will have which features, or confirmed any features at all. Until it does, we won’ t have a sense of what you get from stepping up to the $1,000 price point, compared with the lower-end models.
The question of whether the anniversary iPhone will sell almost doesn’ t need to be asked. Unless Apple completely bungles this launch, it absolutely will. The company has benefited from a nearly year-long hype cycle, and Apple is ensconced as a status symbol in North America. The regular iPhones may be great devices in their own right, but it’ ll be the iPhone Edition / Anniversary / X / whatever that wins most of the headlines.
