Mike Wuerthele
New mockups of the "iPhone 7s" and "iPhone 8" have emerged, showing the widely expected glass back across the entire line, and no sign of a rear-mounted Touch ID sensor on any of the models.
The new set of mockups provided to 9to5 Mac by Sonny Dickson has a glass back like in the iPhone 4 on not only the "iPhone 8," but also the "iPhone 7s." As with any of the mockups, the source is unknown.
A glass back could allow for wireless charging options not as practical with a solid aluminum back. Also, with a glass back there is no need for the antenna stripes, as seen on the current iPhone 7 design.
Multiple mockups, renders, and alleged pictures of construction diagrams have popped up in recent days, with all of them varying somewhat.
As a result of the mockups and the alleged "iPhone 7s" sporting a notably different design from the iPhone 7, noted Apple observer John Gruber chimed in on what he believes the new iPhone lineup will be called. On a Daring Fireball post this week, Gruber speculated without the benefit of insider information that one possibility for nomenclature is the "iPhone 8," "iPhone 8 Plus," and "iPhone 8 Pro."
Another option Gruber predicted is simply the "iPhone," "iPhone Plus," and "iPhone Pro." The second set of possible names is derived from the current iPad lineup, with the iPad, and iPad Pro as the current names. However, the actual product names are iPad fifth-generation, and in the case of Apple's larger offering, the 12.9-inch second-generation iPad Pro.
Regardless of recent guesswork, most of the speculation around the unannounced product centers on the "iPhone 8" name. Lacking anything concrete, the overwhelming majority of mainstream media as well as the tech press refers to the OLED model as the "iPhone 8," with the LCD screen evolution from the iPhone 7 being called the "iPhone 7s."
A report from Tuesday claimed that the "iPhone 8" will enter production in September, rather than October, with between 2 million and 4 million units available for launch. It is unclear how this number compares to the number of iPhone 7 Plus models that were available in the tightly constrained launch in 2017.
The same report declared that the "iPhone 7s" and "iPhone 7s Plus" are already in production.
The "iPhone 7s" and "iPhone 7s Plus" are expected to feature the same LCD display technology Apple has used for years, and it remains unknown if they will be exactly the same design as the iPhone 7, or if they will shift to the glass back from Tuesday's mockup designs.
The "iPhone 8" is predicted to have edge-to-edge OLED display with 5.15 inches of user space and a higher resolution than the iPhone 7 Plus at 2,436 by 1,125 pixels. A new facial recognition technology rumored to be in the device may replace Touch ID — but the rumor mill has conflicting information on that.
Predictions have ranged between Apple could charge a starting price of around $1000 and as much as $1200 for the starting cost of the iPhone 8.
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
9 Comments
Ya! no Touch ID on the back!!!
Ouch, glass back on 7s? You can be sure you'll never see that glass back again, except the short duration between unboxing and inserting into protective case.
I know the rest of the product lines seem to indicate that "iPhone Pro" is inevitable, but remember people thought the iPhone Plus was going to be called the iPhone Pro. Apple purposely avoided using that term then, and they may indeed do it again.
That's no camera bump...it's a fidget spinner!
With an expanded line they really should drop all the numbers.
The marketing names should be:
iPhone
iPhone Plus
iPhone Pro (or less possibly? iPhone Edition)
Of course, for documentation and with accessory compatibility, they will need to differentiate with "late 2017" or a "generation" number.
In future years the line could be further expanded to have an iPhone, iPhone Pro, iPhone Edition and a new small phone or possibly Pro and/or Edition models at different sizes.