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Potential Changes And Features In The 2017 iPhone


In only a few months from now, the next generation iPhone is fully expected to be released. Despite Apple typically going every other year for bigger upgrades, and using ‘S’ models in between number changes, the company is reportedly going to release the iPhone 8 (or ‘iPhone X’, or just ‘iPhone’ as some are speculating), after releasing the iPhone 7 last year.

 

Because this year is the tenth anniversary of the release of the original iPhone, some expect Apple to go all-in for the 2017 version of the phone that changed things when it first released in 2007. So what can we expect when the next iteration of the iPhone (we’ll just call it iPhone 8 throughout this article) is released?

 

For one, it’ll be faster—that’s a 100% lock. The iPhone 8 will have an A11 chip, which will improve the performance over the already-impressive A10 chip in the iPhone 7. While phones are already fast enough, people care about their phone being as fast as possible; after all, most of us spend a lot of time on our phones today.

 

That’s more for the internal function of the phone. We could be seeing a big shift in the design—perhaps the biggest shift since the iPhone made the long-overdue switch to a bigger screen with the iPhone 5.

 

Among the most important possible changes is to the display. Currently, the iPhone has a decent phone display. Things are easy to read, and the quality of videos is OK. However, when matched up with a phone like the Galaxy S8, the iPhone does not even compare. In fact, the iPhone 7 doesn’t even compare to most phones from even 2-3 years ago in terms of quality.

 

Some expect the iPhone 8 to feature an edge-to-edge OLED display. Edge-to-edge might sound like the most attractive part of that phrase, but it’s not. An OLED display is the best thing that can happen to an iPhone screen. It’d give the most accurate colors (especially dark colors) possible, and the clarity would blow away the iPhones of the past. The number one feature of the new iPhone will likely be the OLED display, even if it’s something that has been in other non-iPhone phones before.

 

Another potential change is to the body of the device. There are rumors that the iPhone will be switching back to a glass body. The iPhone 7 has an aluminum body, which is rather durable and looks nice too (it avoids fingerprints and scratches very well). A glass body would probably look better, but it’s almost certainly more likely to break easier too. The glass body can also lead to other things…

 

While I’m a fan of the OLED display and think that might be the most important feature of the new iPhone, if it indeed has it, the reported removal of the physical home button will garner a lot of hype. Apparently, the home button will be built into the display. Not only that, but Touch ID (fingerprint scanner) and the front facing camera are also rumored to be built into the front display. This would be in tandem with the full edge-to-edge display that takes up the entire front of the device (hence, a physical home button not really being possible).

 

While it might sound cutting edge and cool, there are some reservations I have about this. With a display taking up the entire front of the device, it might lead to accidentally touching parts of the screen when trying to use the phone. Also, the swooping cutout design from the top of the phone, as if you believe MobileFun (image below) is kind of prominent.

 

 

Maybe Apple couldn’t get the design tidied up in time to have it so the front facing camera is under the screen and had to opt for this cutout, but either way it’s kind of ugly. Of course, nothing is official yet, but they would probably be better off sticking with a traditional screen design.

 

Putting the screen design aside, there are some more exciting things to look forward to for the iPhone 8. Like last year’s amazing dual camera in the iPhone 7 Plus, all versions of the iPhone 8 could have the top-end camera. Also, wireless charging would be an outstanding feature. Just imagine not having to deal with the lightning connectors breaking (or just not working, as some iPhone 7 users have reported happening).

 

Until we actually see the iPhone on stage this fall, nothing can be certain. But the next version of the iPhone could have some notable changes and upgrades that will keep it among the best devices available.

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