Analyst Predicts 2017 iPhone 8 'Mega Cycle' With OLED, Wireless Charging, and No Home Button

[Dave245]

It does make you wonder doesn't it? The secrecy is gone, so maybe create doubt and confusion
Very true. The connections drawn to specific devices can be tenuous at best.

Yea and I gets everyone talking while Apple work on the iPhone release. Things do end up leaking nearer the time but there are usually some surprises as well, most things leaked regarding the 9.7" iPad Pro but Apple still managed to surprise with a 256GB option. If there indeed is a iPhone Pro who's to say that these rumours aren't about that device. Also who's to say that if Apple is planning on changing up the release cycle (7 and then S) that they aren't changing the release date also.

 

[2457248]

it makes sense to get rid of both 3.5mm jack and home button at the same time, given that they are what keep the bottom bezel from being smaller.
though i'm not ready to let go of the convenient jack for all earphones in this planet... (i know, this has been said at least 128k times already)

 

[TurboPGT!]

I take it you have never been to a cellphone store?

I take it you imagine the consumer market place is just like you. Its OK, thats a typical trait amongst people.

Repeat this sentence in your head a few times: the majority of the consumer market places buys the first product they touch, or buys sight unseen. a microscopic percentage of a percentage actually do comparison shopping before making a purchase.

 

[zone23]

I know which one looks better, the one that doesn't give me a headache because it's not over saturated.

I haven't actually seen Apples OLED display so I really can't comment on that yet.

 

[redscull]

The home button is living on borrowed time.
Needs to go, takes up too much space

It balances the space needed by the other side of the phone for the camera and speaker and light sensor.

Also, why the hate on the home button? My iPhone family tech support, which I'd wager many Mac rumors readers find themselves handling, would be much harder if there wasn't a big obvious physical button for me to tell tech-challenged users to push.

And you have to have some form of always-present button. Even Android does. But theirs is software. So part of their usable screen space is always wasted rendering mostly static buttons that would be better as physical buttons.

 

[macduke]

With rumors of this year's "iPhone 7" largely looking like the iPhone 6/s, why not call the new iPhone this autumn the iPhone 6 SE? Then launch the iPhone 7 earlier than normal, say June 29th, 2017, 10 years to the day after the original iPhone launched? Hah. That would be epic!

I really want this 2017 iPhone. Reduce the bezels, especially on top and bottom. Build Touch ID into the display, and make some way to use 3D Touch as the physical home button. Then you could use OLED to always have a small, thin circle appear on the bottom of the display where they could tap to unlock. Hopefully find a way to combine a thin sapphire layer over a new generation of gorilla glass and make the whole thing scratch-resistant glass that is shatter-proof from at least 6 feet up, as well as waterproof. Then provide a wireless charger, or perhaps one that uses only a smart connector magnetically. So all ports would be gone, and docking or diagnostics could be done using the smart connector. Then there is probably a way they could use the glass surface as a speaker, as I've seen glass-pane speakers before. Then just use 3D Touch for buttons on the side of the glass, such as the sleep/wake button, volume buttons, etc. Perhaps if you do different gestures, such as squeeze the phone tightly on the sides it could make it sleep/wake. Then force-slide your finger down the side to change the volume.

That would be the ultimate iPhone: A beautifully engineered slab of glass that won't crack (well from most normal use), won't scratch, takes up a lot less space, has no visible ports or speakers, has no antenna bands because the whole thing is tough glass, no buttons, all beautiful display that has low reflectance and excellent brightness outdoors, but with all the same functionality of physical buttons and ports, and is completely sealed/waterproof. I doubt we'll get this far by 2017 but I can hope, lol, and I think 2019/2020 isn't out of the question. I think 2017 will be halfway there. 2019 or 2020 they'll remove the lightning port, maybe find a solution for the speakers, mic and side buttons, and probably shave off some more bezel as 2017 won't be close to all the way. 2017 will be all about that glass, no home button, reduced bezels, and if they don't do it this year—removed headphone jack. I just hope they're able to get the glass strong enough if they switch back to that because I hate having to use a case.

 

[I7guy]

I haven't actually seen Apples OLED display so I really can't comment on that yet.

We will know when and if they decide to showcase it.

 

[NT1440]

I still don't understand how bezels bother people so much.

 

[zone23]

I take it you imagine the consumer market place is just like you. Its OK, thats a typical trait amongst people.

Repeat this sentence in your head a few times: the majority of the consumer market places buys the first product they touch, or buys sight unseen. a microscopic percentage of a percentage actually do comparison shopping before making a purchase.

What I image is consumers walking into a Verizon store and looking at different mobile devices and thinking wow look at the display on the S7 vs the 6S. It very noticeable and you don't need to be an optometrist to see the difference good or bad in your own eyes. Now if you just shop on Amazon or only go to a Apple store then you won't see the difference in displays.

 

[LordQ]

iPhone 8 Plus for me, please.

 

[I7guy]

I still don't understand how bezels bother people so much.

They bother some, I like them. The iPhone has a sexy, iconic look that other manufacturers can't carry forward with.

 

[TurboPGT!]

What I image is consumers walking into a Verizon store and looking at different mobile devices and thinking wow look at the display on the S7 vs the 6S

Then indeed, you have a wild imagination, with no basis in reality.

 

[zone23]

We will know when and if they decide to showcase it.

I agree with you, S7 displays do tend to look over saturated. I haven't used one long enough to see if it gives me brain pain.

 

[TurboPGT!]

I still don't understand how bezels bother people so much.

They don't. Not real people, anyway. The tiny subset of online-blog-followers-who-need-to-comment are a little different...anything that hasn't been changed for the sake of change, needs to change, or the product is a failure.

 

[zone23]

Then indeed, you have a wild imagination, with no basis in reality.

LOL Okay..

 

[NT1440]

They don't. Not real people, anyway. The tiny subset of online-blog-followers-who-need-to-comment are a little different...anything that hasn't been changed for the sake of change, needs to change, or the product is a failure.

That's what I see really. Never met someone in person who mentioned a bezel, most people don't even know the term.

 

[69Mustang]

I initially had the same reaction as you. That sentence should have been written "...and new features like next-generation wireless charging" to differentiate between the current generation of wireless charging. Wireless charging itself is not new but what they're working on is.

100% this. Words, and their placement, matter. This: "next-generation features like wireless charging..." is not the same as what you wrote: "...and new features like next-generation wireless charging".

I think the author meant next generation for iPhone, not smartphones in general.

Not trying to sound like a jerk, but if that's what the author meant, that's what they should have written. I could understand if it was a direct quote attributed to the analyst, but it wasn't. The lack of clarity contributes to "first-best-been around for years-Apple will do it better-Samsung already has it" comments in this thread.

 

[BMcCoy]

Pretty clear I will not replace my iPhone 4 with iPhone 7 but with the iPhone 8

You should replace it with the SE.
It's a terrific iPhone, in the best design, with the latest internals.

 

[geoff5093]

And it already exists with mag safe and the Apple Watch. Hopefully they mean wireless charging that's actually innovative. Like, you're in the same room as your wall adaptor so your phone charges. Not just resting it on a plastic pad.

That's not wireless charging though, they have pins in the MagSafe adapter that align with pins in the device

 

[jamezr]

Apple has been pouring R&D into both a FAST wireless charging system (one of the biggest drawbacks of current tech) AND a wireless charging ecosystem:

That would be great to see! But seeing it a drawing of it and actually mass producing it are two entirely different things.
Then how safe is that wireless energy broadcast? There are a LOT of questions about that kind of energy being broadcast around people for an extended amount of time.
But being able to charge all of my devices without wires would be a great thing to have.

 

[geoff5093]

That would be great to see! But seeing it a drawing of it and actually mass producing it are two entirely different things.
Then how safe is that wireless energy broadcast? There are a LOT of questions about that kind of energy being broadcast around people for an extended amount of time.
But being able to charge all of my devices without wires would be a great thing to have.

Plus the question of efficiency. If you are blasting out tons of power in all directions, enough to power multiple devices, the amount of money you'd waste on powering that device would go up dramatically.

 

[MrGuder]

It sounds like the iPhone 7 will be the one to skip.

 

[jamezr]

Plus the question of efficiency. If you are blasting out tons of power in all directions, enough to power multiple devices, the amount of money you'd waste on powering that device would go up dramatically.

That's a great point!. It would seem to be energy inefficient.
They already have proof that holding a cell phone to your ear for extended periods of time can cause health issues. Would broadcasting that amount of high energy cause the same issues?

 

[shanson27]

Is time to skip the iPhone 7

 

[NT1440]

Plus the question of efficiency. If you are blasting out tons of power in all directions, enough to power multiple devices, the amount of money you'd waste on powering that device would go up dramatically.

That's why you have tuned antennas that don't "broadcast" but instead set up a beam forming connection. It's the exact same method wifi uses when you have 802.11ac connections.

Both samsung and Apple have patents on this.