Apple survives on rumours. Correction: Apple thrives on rumours. The iPhone, especially, lends itself so beautifully to gossip that it’s hard to think of one without the other.
Take the iPhone 8 for instance. Rumours about what the phone would look like had started doing the rounds even as the brand new iPhone 7 was making its way to Apple stores around the world. Since it’s being launched on Apple’s 10th anniversary, great things are expected from iPhone 8. From wireless charging to cooking a 7-course meal, all kinds of features have been attributed to this phone.
One the aesthetic front, it’s believed that the iPhone 8 will come with a glass exterior form factor. However, new reports suggest that this will only be true for one of the 3 models being launched this year – the larger flagship phone with the 5.8-inch screen. The smaller phone (4.7 inches) will feature the regular aluminum-alloy chassis and the fate of the 5.5-inch iPhone 8 still hangs in the balance.
However, as is the nature of rumours, there’s generally plenty of evidence to believe otherwise. According to yet another report that has surfaced, Apple has signed a deal with Samsung for an additional 60 million OLED displays.
That’s right. ‘Additional’.
Apple has already ordered 100 million displays from them, bringing the total up to 160 million, if my math is correct.
This is where things begin to get a little confusing. Apple typically sells around 200 million iPhones every year. If they are limiting OLED displays to the 5.8-inch model, why are they ordering 160 million of them from Samsung? That’s almost 80% of the entire sales!
This could mean one of two things
- They’re planning on selling a lot, lot more than 200 million iPhones this year
- Or they’re expecting the flagship device to do really, really, really well and are preparing for the huge demand in advance.
Getting too ambitious, are we Apple?
But the confusion doesn’t end here. If you’ve done your homework and read our previous articles on iPhone 8 rumours, you’d know that the new phones – all three variations – will probably come with wireless charging. In fact, Apple switched to glass casing for this very reason.
So, if they’re retaining the aluminium chassis for the smaller models, this could mean two things:
- Wireless charging will also be reserved for the flagship 5.8-inch model
- Or, Apple isn’t giving us wireless charging at all this year
Confusion. Rumours. Confusing rumours.
While you make head or tail of things to come, I am going to adopt a more sage attitude and sing ‘Que sera sera, what will be, will be’. Things are a long from getting sorted and I’d like to save my energy for all the other gossip the grape vine will be sending our way in the coming months.