Whatever we’ve heard leaked about the 2017 iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus might not make you happy at all. Apart from two major changes – the possibility of one larger-screen option and the vertically aligned iSight Duo Camera on the iPhone 7 refreshes – nothing else is likely to change. But they still might be more expensive than iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
That’ll make anyone angry because it will be the fourth year running that Apple continues an older design – namely, that of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. With just incremental changes from iPhone 6 to iPhone 7, Apple’s reputation for innovation is already hanging by a thread. So, what happens when they stretch that thread further next year with iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus?
Granted, iPhone 8 (or “Ferrari” or whatever you want to call it until it actually comes out next year) might have some truly innovative features (for Apple, at least) like the AMOLED screen, the all-glass front panel, enhanced 3D photography, wireless charging, real underwater photography capability and all the other good stuff we’ve reported thus far.
Still, if Apple intends to squeeze the market as much as it can with three models, two of which are barely what you can call “refreshes”, that might not sit well with consumers. After all, how much can they hope to stretch the goodwill that the company and the brand have with their user base?
But, as with anything Apple does, things usually tend to go against the grain. The early success of iPhone 7 – specifically the jet black version – is testament to the fact that Apple lovers will lap up almost anything the company puts out. But the “almost” part is what concerns me at this point.
That said, the strength of iPhone 8 might well carry the lack of innovation on the other two models – iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus.
Here’s the Twist – NO iPhone 8 Coming in 2017?
But what we’re hearing now is disturbing. Mac Okatara, which has a good reputation for accurately reporting leaks, now all but explicitly says that there may not even be an iPhone 8 coming out next year. Instead, it will be the 2017 iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus variants, plus an “intermediate size 5 inch model.” (translated from Japanese)
If that’s the case, Apple could be in serious trouble.
But I beg to differ. There’s too much evidence that points to the fact that there will, in fact, be a 2017 iPhone 8 to mark the 10th anniversary of iPhone – the smartphone that changed everything about mobile phones.
For one, we know that Apple is testing out at least 10 different prototypes, which isn’t likely if they’re only making incremental changes and not introducing a leap-frog variant better than any iPhone ever made.
We also know that they’ve been pushing their suppliers to ramp up their OLED panel production capabilities. In addition, Foxconn, their biggest supplier, is already testing out wireless charging.
All of these features are being planned for the iPhone 8, to the best of our knowledge and that of our sources.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until April, which is when Apple will finalize several things for the next generation of iPhones. Until then, it’s going to be a guessing game no matter how sound the sources might be.
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