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Apple's new iPhone is slated to be unveiled this week. Here's what tech experts are predicting
The 10th anniversary of Apple's iPhone and the launch of the 8th edition of the device coincide on September 12. Here is a roundup of what tech experts around the world are predicting about the shape, size, performance and everything else in between:
No place called home!
For the first time ever, the iPhone may actually come without a home button. While the exact reason for this is unknown, it is rumored that the iPhone 8 will have an edge-to-edge screen (popularly known as infinity display in the Android parlance), and the humble home button may not find a place in the scheme of things.
No fingering around!
'Ungli mat kar' is what Apple seems to be saying, if indeed it decides to replace the iPhone 8 fingerprint sensor with a facial recognition software, powered by a 3-D scanner. The device might also come with an innovative 'do not disturb while driving' mode and an emergency SOS button.
Family launch!
Besides the 10th anniversary iPhone, which might be called the iPhoneX or iPhone Pro ( we really don't know for sure), Apple is also likely to launch upgraded versions of iPhone 7 and 7 Plus respectively, to be called iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. The flagship is set to be available in white, black copper, and if Apple decides to get creative, something called Blush Gold. The special 10th anniversary editions are expected to be launched in 64, 256 and 512 GB variants.
AR you ready?
With the recent launch of ARKit, Apple's new developer toolkit for augmented reality applications, it can be speculated reasonably well that the new iPhone will come with at least a few basic AR features built-in, opening it up for developers to create more applications leveraging the iPhone 8 hardware.
Wireless ways
iPhone 8 or at least the flagship iPhoneX might ease the pains of recharging for the first time -- with a wireless charging mode which will ditch the charging cable.
New OLED era
The flagship iPhone will in all probability be the first to sport an Organic Light Emitting Diode or OLED screen rather than LCD. This will sharply improve the brightness and sharpness of images and video -- but will also kick up the final price to US$ 1000 or more for the first time. In India, after factoring taxes and duties, we might have the first iPhone priced at over Rs 1 lakh. Ironically the OLED material is currently sourced only from Samsung, Apple's closest rival in the high end smartphone business.
Watch out for more!
Besides the iPhone 8, and probably a few variants of the iPhone 7, Apple is also slated to unveil a new smart watch, possibly called the Apple Watch 3. For the first time ever, the new Apple Watch might actually work independent of the iPhone, and come enabled with functionality where you can insert a SIM card and directly connect to the internet.
