iPhone 8 Specs And Features: A Display With Holes, Cat 16 LTE, A Steel Frame And More

The iPhone 8 might still be months away from launch, but it is already triggering a massive amount of interest from fans and analysts alike. Apple has been very silent about the details of the iPhone 8, but leaks and rumors continue to emerge about the upcoming flagship. While the Cupertino-based tech giant is yet to confirm if any of the rumors are accurate, leaks and speculations from reputable sources paint a picture of a formidable, revolutionary device that would, just like the very first iPhone back in 2007, change the world of mobile communications definitively.

Rumors about the iPhone 8’s specs have been emerging for some time now, with noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities stating that the 2017 flagship would carry a brand new all-glass design. A Trusted Reviews report pointed out that a Barclays analyst also stated that the upcoming device would feature wireless charging, which recent rumors state would have a revolutionary 15-foot range. An OLED display, a massive 5.8-inch screen, and A11 chip and a Snapdragon X16 LTE modem are also rumored for the device.

Among the speculated features and specs of the upcoming smartphone, the iPhone 8’s rumored all-glass body has attracted arguably the most attention from longtime iPhone users and analysts. A metal and glass iPhone design have already been utilized in the past with 2010’s iPhone 4 and 2011’s iPhone 4S. Unlike the aluminum frame of the iPhone 6 Plus, which was prone to bending, the iPhone 4 and 4S’s metal and glass frame were nigh-unbendable. However, the glass back of the devices also made them extremely prone to shattering, making the iPhone 4 and 4S quite fragile in their own right.

Since the ‘bendgate’ issue with the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple’s smartphones have been increasingly durable, with 2015’s iPhone 6S and 2016’s iPhone 7 being devices that are quite sturdy, albeit prone to scratches due to their metal frame. Thus, it would be interesting to see how Apple would utilize a glass design with the iPhone 8 without compromising its structural integrity. Analysts are predicting that Apple would be utilizing a steel frame in the iPhone 8, allowing the all-glass device’s internals to be well-protected. So far, however, these speculations have not been confirmed.

One thing that is particularly interesting is a patent that was recently granted to the tech giant on January 2017. A MacWorld report stated that Patent 9,543,364, which was granted on January 10, described a pretty unique system that would allow Apple to create displays with “openings” or holes. Doing so would allow the tech giant to create a display that would practically cover the full face of the device, with the cameras, sensors and other forms of controls being hidden behind the screen. If these sound familiar, it is because they are, since an all-display design has been in the iPhone 8’s rumor mill for some time now. After all, over the last few months, rumors of an all-glass, wraparound OLED screen for the upcoming flagship have been emerging.

Notably, the display system described in the recently-granted patent would also address the rumors about the iPhone 8’s bezels, which are speculated to be thinner than ever. After all, a display with openings would allow Apple to forego most of the spaces around the edges of the device, which are usually utilized by the tech giant for various apertures and controls. This particular design, of course, has been welcomed very well by fans of the flagship smartphone, especially since the design of the iPhone’s bezels has become quite outdated compared to its rivals in recent years.

? what do you think about this #iphone8 concept? pic.twitter.com/SunFgOGAaA

— nathaniel (@FuriousbobRL) January 11, 2017

Another notable rumor that has recently emerged is the notion that the iPhone 8 would retain Qualcomm as a supplier for the smartphone’s LTE modems. With the iPhone 8’s top-of-the-line specs, there is a pretty good chance that the device would utilize the chipmaker’s most formidable mobile LTE chip, the Snapdragon X16. Created using a 14nm manufacturing process, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 is capable of supporting LTE Cat. 16 download speeds, which could go as high as 1Gbps.

If the iPhone 8 does end up being equipped with the Snapdragon X16, the smartphone’s users would be able to download a 4K movie, which is around 100GB in size, in just around 13 minutes. Such speeds are almost close to those offered by fiber internet. Currently, the Snapdragon X16 is already being sampled by manufacturers, with the chipmaker set to release the chip for a mass rollout by the second half of 2017. That places its distribution well into the manufacturing dates for the iPhone 8, which is speculated to be revealed around September 2017.

The iPhone 8 is a compelling device. The fact that rumors and speculations are consistently emerging about the device months before its release is proof that the public’s interest in the upcoming flagship smartphone is extremely high. Though official details about the device would not be revealed by Apple for months, leaks, patents and other speculations about the flagship smartphone are pointing to a formidable, capable and most of all, revolutionary mobile machine. Considering that it is the 10th-anniversary iteration of the world’s premiere mobile device, it couldn’t be anything less.

[Featured Image by Valentin Valkov/Shutterstock]