It's no secret that Apple has commenced working on the next year's iPhone 8 series, and though it will be launched in September next year, it's gaining a lot of attention from tech pundits and fans, as 2017 marks the 10th anniversary of the company's first iPhone.
The Cupertino company is going all out to make the launch of the iPhone 7 successor a grand success, the Wall Street Journal reported. Apple is said to have prepared 10 different test models of the iPhone 8 series and among them, one model with OLED (Organic Light Emitting Display) display is getting special attention. The company has asked supply partners to bring out a LED display panel prototype having better resolution and quality than the ones being used in arch-rival brand Samsung's phones.
Also read: Apple gets patent for foldable display; will the clamshell iPhone debut with iPhone 8?
Though OLED display is expensive, it has more advantages over the LCD panels used in current and previous iPhone models. LED-based screens are flexible, which gives the company the freedom to develop new design language for the phone. It is also power efficient, as it boasts luminous property when charged, compared to the rigid LCD panels, which require backlit panel to illuminate the screen, thereby causing battery to get drained.
The current iPhones series already commands a premium price tag and is having a tough time to register sales in emerging markets like India. If Apple decides to go ahead with OLED panels for the iPhone 8 series, high making charges might shoot the prices further north.
This apparently has left Apple's top executives thinking over whether to embrace the OLED technology or stick with the current LCD iPhone series.
WSJ notes that there is a slight chance that Apple may defer the launch of the OLED-based iPhone to next year.
However, if the company does not go ahead with development of OLED-based iPhone 8 with curved screen, it may be left with an uninspiring device to show off at the 10th anniversary meet in September 2017.
Apple iPhone 8 series: What we know so far
Besides the display, Apple is also said to be giving equal importance to the camera. It has come to light that Apple is working with its recently-acquired Israeli start-up company LinX and LG's subsidiary Innotek, to develop a 3D camera technology in the iPhone 8 series.
LinX is known to have developed a smart camera application that has the ability to take in 3D information captured by a smart device's camera. It is also said to be capable of refocusing an image after it has been captured, in-depth measurement of the true dimensions of objects in the scene, 3D object modelling and also real-time background replacement for video calls.
The company is also planning to incorporate OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) feature to the telephoto CCM (Compact Camera Module) in two of the three iPhone 8 series models to improve photo quality and optical zoom range.
Another notable feature expected to be introduced in the iPhone 8 series is bezel-less screen. Apple is also likely to ditch the physical home button, which houses the fingerprint sensor on the front display panel in current and older models.
Other expected features of iPhone 8 series include 3GB RAM and Apple A11 Fusion processor.
Apple is expected to come in three screen sizes — 4.7-inch, 5.1-inch and 5.5-inch. It is rumoured that the 5.1-inch model may come with curved OLED screen.
Watch this space for more news related to Apple iPhone 8 series.
