Apple has announced plans to unveil it next set of iPhones, which are expected to introduce a whole new design and set the tone for the next few years.
The new iPhone 8 will be unveiled in a press event on September 12.
The Guardian reported that the new smartphones are not the only new thing Apple is expected to announce, with the event taking place in the just-built Apple Park and its Steve Jobs Theatre.
Apple Park: Known externally as Apple’s “spaceship”, Apple Park is the firm’s new headquarters in Cupertino, California, built to house its growing workforce in a giant, four-storey ring surrounded by manicured woodland. The multi-billion-dollar construction was designed by Norman Foster with Apple’s Jony Ive and is meant to be part of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ legacy.
The event will be the first time non-Apple personnel will be allowed on the grounds in any number, giving the world a glimpse of the latest hallowed halls of big US technology.
D22’ iPhone- iPhone 8/Pro/X: Apple is expected to announce a new design for at least one of its iPhones for 2017. While the details on the naming of the device codenamed “D22” are sketchy – it could be called the iPhone 8, iPhone Pro, or perhaps the iPhone X if it is named after the Apple smartphone’s 10th anniversary – a leak from Apple of the HomePod software revealed much about its design and features.
The biggest change is a new all-screen design, similar to that produced by Samsung for the Galaxy S8 and Note 8, and LG for the G6 and V30. Apple is expected to do away with the traditional home button on the front, with the screen extending to the edges at the top, bottom and sides of the device, with much slimmer bezels.
The top of the device is expected to have a cut out in the screen for the earpiece speaker, selfie camera and sensors, similar to that of Android-founder Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone.
Lacking a home button on the front of the iPhone also means no Touch ID fingerprint scanner on the front. While Apple was hoping, like Samsung, to have an under-screen fingerprint scanner, neither company appears to have been able to get the technology to work for this generation. It is unlikely the iPhone 8 will have such an advancement.
Instead, Apple is expected to rely on infrared facial recognition as its primary biometric system for the iPhone 8, which will be capable of recognising a user, unlocking the device and authenticating payments. Leaks also point to the phone being able to tell when a user is looking at it and automatically silencing notifications.
