Everything we expect from Apple's iPhone 8

Apple’s (AAPL) 10th anniversary iPhone is already one of the most important products in the company’s history, and we’re still a number of weeks away from its expected September launch.

As usual, the tech giant isn’t keen on dropping any hints about unreleased products, but a recent leak has given us a decent idea of what we can expect from the smartphone.

A woman looks at the screen of her mobile phone in front of an Apple logo outside its store in Shanghai, China July 30, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song
A woman looks at the screen of her mobile phone in front of an Apple logo outside its store in Shanghai, China July 30, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song

So what kind of features are we likely to see in the next iPhone? Well, how about an edge-to-edge display, improved camera and … no more Home button?

The iPhone 8

First thing’s first, we don’t know what the next iPhone will actually be called. The going theory is that Apple will call it the iPhone 8, but there have been reports that it could be named the iPhone X, since this will mark the 10th anniversary of the company’s first handset. I’m sticking with 8 for now, though.

So what can we expect from Apple’s next smartphone? Plenty, according to the endless flow of leaks coming from Apple’s supply chain and a recent firmware update for the company’s HomePod.

A firmware update for Apple’s upcoming HomePod seems to have included key details about the iPhone 8.
A firmware update for Apple’s upcoming HomePod seems to have included key details about the iPhone 8.

That update, which was for a device that isn’t even on the market, revealed a number of big features we might see in the iPhone 8. When developers including Guilherme Rambo and Steven Troughton-Smith mined the firmware update, they uncovered a number of files that seem to back up prior reports that the iPhone 8 will include some kind of facial recognition technology.

That feature may end up replacing the iPhone’s popular fingerprint reader. According to a slew of rumors, Apple’s iconic Home button will be removed from the iPhone 8 in order for the company to equip the handset with an edge-to-edge-style display. That would seem to kill the phone’s fingerprint sensor, though, there is a chance Apple could instead place that under the handset’s display.

Part of the HomePod’s firmware seemed to back up the idea of an edge-to-edge panel, as it included what looks like a phone with such a display, The Guardian reports.

As far as the iPhone 8’s actual screen technology goes, Apple has long been rumored to have landed on using an OLED, or organic light emitting diodes, panel, rather than the traditional LED screens used in past iPhones.

Apple’s iPhone 7 uses and LED display, but the iPhone 8 is expected to come with a more vibrant OLED panel. (Reuters/Stefan Wermuth)
Apple’s iPhone 7 uses and LED display, but the iPhone 8 is expected to come with a more vibrant OLED panel. (Reuters/Stefan Wermuth)

The reason for the upgrade is that OLED displays offer far richer colors and deeper blacks than LED screens, which should mean a better overall viewing experience. Unfortunately, they also tend to wash out in direct sunlight. Knowing Apple, though, the company likely has a solution to that issue in mind already.

The iPhone 8 should also get a new, improved rear camera, with some renders showing a dual-lens setup in a vertical orientation rather than the iPhone 7 Plus’ current horizontal orientation.