Apple iPhone 8 will be the first smartphone to support 4K video recording at 60fps on its front and rear cameras, if there is any truth to the leaked HomePod firmware code shared by Brazilian outlet iHelp. Unlike the current-gen iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus which record videos in full HD (1080p) at 60fps, the leaked code strings clearly indicate support for 4K recording at the same frame rate.
It may be noted that the video recording capability of the smartphone's camera is currently limited to 30fps at 4K resolution as in the case of Samsung Galaxy S8. As a result, this leak should be taken with a pinch of salt as there is no official word or confirmation regarding these rumours.
A similar source code leak in iOS 9 had earlier suggested that iPhone's front camera would feature the panoramic mode, 1080p video capture at 240fps in slow motion and flash. The flash feature indeed made its way to the iPhone while the rest never saw the day of light.
Apple is all set to release its first smartphone capable of 4K video later this year, as both iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra support High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) in H.265 format for compressing 4K video. The new video format offers improved colour range at almost half the size of the H.264 codec that's currently used in Apple devices.
The iPhone 8 is touted to offer enhanced Augmented Reality (AR) capabilities using Apple's ARKit framework. The advent of 60fps support on the handset's primary camera will enable AR enhancements like better tracking.
According to 9To5Mac, another piece of code found within the HomePod firmware had earlier confirmed the iPhone 8's front design, besides revealing details on its support for facial recognition. Among other interesting features, the leaked firmware code points to Apple Pay support for Face ID, new SmartCam mode, tap to wake and more.
Coming to the availability details, iPhone 8 is expected to see a delayed launch sometime in late October or early November due to production constraints triggered by the radical redesigning of its upcoming flagship phone.
