Apple iPhone 8 to ditch Touch ID and native wireless charging; Improved security system for facial recognition in the works
Apple fans are pumped for the iPhone 8’s likely unveiling in September. This year marks the iconic handset’s decade-long dominance of the smartphone industry and all-new features are expected from the upcoming Apple device. A lot of questions still surround the handset, though, and some of the previously reported and anticipated enhancements may not make it in time for the phone’s launch.
The much anticipated iPhone 8 will not include the previously reported Touch ID feature. That is one of the predictions that KGI Securities insider Ming-Chi Kuo on Monday. But apparently, it won’t be the only thing that the upcoming handset will miss out on.
According to the analyst, colour options will also be limited for the iPhone 8 and its two subordinates, the iPhone 7s and the iPhone 7s Plus. The all-new handset will reportedly sport a full-screen OLED display with the highest screen-to-body ratio ever on any phone while the successors of the current iPhone models will furnish LCD panels. A virtual Home button is also expected for the OLED variant, but no fingerprint recognition support is foreseen.
All three upcoming Apple smartphones will come with Lightning ports and will be available in 64 GB and 256 GB variants. The iPhone 8 and the iPhone 7s Plus will each come with 3 GB DRAM while the iPhone 7s will only have 2 GB DRAM due to its single camera. The OLED iPhone will also have 3D sensing support for facial recognition and better selfie quality.
Kuo likewise believes that the iPhone 8’s wireless charging capabilities will not be available by default and will only be enabled by an optional accessory that will be sold separately. The insider also predicts that the mobile device will come with an embedded USB-C power delivery IC for higher charging efficacy, although it will still be bundled with the current models’ 5W power adapter and USB-A port. Bloomberg, meanwhile, said that Apple is developing an enhanced security system that will allow users to unlock their handsets and make Apple Pay transactions using facial recognition, although it remains to be seen if the feature will make it in time for the September unveiling.
“The sensor’s speed and accuracy are focal points of the feature,” according to the report. “It can scan a user’s face and unlock the iPhone within a few hundred milliseconds. It is designed to work even if the device is laying [sic] flat on a table, rather than just close up to the face.”
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 8 and the 7s models in September, so an October or November launch is likely. Word has it that the company is having problems with the tenth anniversary handset’s OLED production, which is the reason for the launch delay.
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