Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 seen launching in September against Apple's 'iPhone 8'

Samsung will likely ship the Galaxy Note 8 in September "at the earliest," according to a report, a timeframe which would pit the device directly against Apple's new iPhones — including the "iPhone 8."

The Note 8's launch window was claimed by DigiTimes, citing sources among Taiwanese parts suppliers. Multiple reports this week suggested that the device will be announced in August — possibly Aug. 23 — but it could be the device will only hit shelves a few weeks later.

Rumors have hinted the device will include a 6.3-inch AMOLED screen, and come with other high-end features such as 6 gigabytes of RAM and dual rear cameras, both of them rated at 12 megapixels with optical image stabilization. Similar camera specifications are present on Apple's iPhone 7 Plus.

The Note line's distinguishing feature is the S Pen, which this time may be paired with enhanced software for functions like translation, currency conversion, and pinning notes to the screen, since AMOLED will allow the display to stay on with minimal power drain. The "iPhone 8" is expected to have an edge-to-edge, 5.8-inch OLED screen, replacing a physical home button with a virtual one.

Samsung released the Galaxy Note 7 in August last year, hoping to pick up more sales by beating the iPhone 7 to market. The tactic backfired, with battery fires leading to not one but two recalls before the product was discontinued. Samsung took billions in losses, and switched to a more rigorous testing scheme for the Galaxy S8 to prevent any repeats.

Apart from the "iPhone 8," Apple is also rumored to be launching an "iPhone 7s" and "7s Plus." Those devices may offer some "8" features — such as wireless charging — but omit others, most notably using 4.7- and 5.5-inch LCDs in place of OLED, and retaining physical home buttons.

42 Comments

MacPro 19811 comments · 18 Years

About 7 years ago

I bet Samsung are are all fired up ...

rotateleftbyte 1630 comments · 12 Years

another attempt to pre-empt Apple's big day.
This could end one of several ways
- The Note is a magical product that gets back ordered for 3 months on day 1 AND the iPhone is a damp squib.
- It falls flat on its face if Apple launch a really great product.

With things like this, I get the impression that sometimes Samsung acts like a little child when it comes to a forthcoming Apple device launch. They just have to be first.

Metriacanthosaurus 880 comments · 8 Years

rotateleftbyte said:

another attempt to pre-empt Apple's big day.
This could end one of several ways
- The Note is a magical product that gets back ordered for 3 months on day 1 AND the iPhone is a damp squib.
- It falls flat on its face if Apple launch a really great product.

With things like this, I get the impression that sometimes Samsung acts like a little child when it comes to a forthcoming Apple device launch. They just have to be first.

Neither of those are realistic possibilities.

What actually happens is: the Note 8 is ridiculously unpopular amongst Samsung's own line of high end smartphones, and its true sales figures are never revealed as a result. The iPhone 8 goes on to monumental success, whether or not the Note 8 launches at all.

igorsky 773 comments · 9 Years

"That's exciting news!", said nobody.

rotateleftbyte said:

With things like this, I get the impression that sometimes Samsung acts like a little child when it comes to a forthcoming Apple device launch. They just have to be first.

I get the impression that Samsung acts like the underachieving younger brother who always tries to outshine his overachieving older brother, and fails miserably at every attempt.