Disclaimer: These are all just rumours; nothing has been confirmed about the iPhone 8 so far.
According to a new report by Barclays Research analysts Blayne Curtis, Christopher Hemmelgarn, Thomas O’Malley, and Jerry Zhang, Apple might finally break away from their fixed screen sizes for next year’s iPhone 8.
The report claims that Apple might upgrade the 4.7’’ screen to 5’’, and bump up the 5.5” to 5.8”
Those are the sizes for iPhone 8 and 8 Plus respectively. So, the 8 Plus is officially a tablet. MacRumors quoted the report, saying:
Larger and Bezel-less iPhone 8 design didn’t sound 100% locked down but we believe the move is to a bezel-less design with screen sizes getting larger and curved edges in the original envelope. The iPhone 8 moves to 5″ (from 4.7″) and the Plus moves to 5.8″ (from 5.5”).
A bezel-less design will mean that even though we’ll get a larger screen, the overall phone size might remain more or less the same. Which is a good thing, because it would be a real hassle carrying the monstrous 8 Plus around in our pockets.
Also, the fact that Apple has already (technically) removed the physical home button means that they are ready to go full “touch-only” in the next variation. Completely removing the Home Button will certainly save a lot of bezel space!
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has shown that curved edges can be a huge selling point. And that’s what Apple will look to exploit in the iPhone 8. It will be interesting to see how Apple integrates the use of curved edges into their highly structured and restrained iOS.
The research also throws some light on the much-debated issue of iPhones not having an OLED display, which has now become an industry standard. The research says that the bigger phone — 8 Plus — is more likely to have an OLED display. The smaller version will continue to see the LCD display that current iPhones have.
There are a lot of new features, and it’s quite possible that Apple might save some of them for the next ’S’ versions of iPhones due in 2018.
But look at us…galloping away on our imaginary horses, trying to guess what Apple will do in 2018 when I’m not even sure what I’m going to do for food this weekend if I don’t get my currency changed!
I hope the fantasies of a bezel-less, curvy-edged, 5.8” OLED-screened iPhone 8 keep you company while you stand in those long bank queues.
Adios!
