iPhone 8

A report yesterday suggested that the wireless charging capability expected to be included in the iPhone 8 will be limited to 7.5W, compared to the maximum 15W supported by the latest Qi 1.2 standards. This would mean that the device would charge half as fast as the latest tech would allow.

It’s also said that Apple’s system, though based on Qi, will be tweaked so that only Apple-approved charging pads can be used.

Although that’s not ideal – standards compatibility is generally (but not always) a good thing, and faster charging is obviously better than slow – I wouldn’t find it surprising if it were true, nor do I think it’ll prove to be a big deal …

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple has indeed scheduled an event on September 12. On that date, Apple is set to announce the new iPhone models, as well as cellular Apple Watch and a 4K Apple TV set-top box. We are still waiting for Apple to send out invites to press to make the event official, although it is all but confirmed at this point.

In terms of event location, the report says that the company is ‘aiming to use’ the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park for the first time …

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Macotakara is the latest publication to report on the inclusion of wireless charging in the iPhone 8, set to be announced next month. The Japanese site notes that Apple has opted to use the slower standard charging profile, which means the inductive charging will run at 7.5W, about half the speed of the latest Qi 1.2 standards.

The unnamed sources also note that Apple may require MFI licenses for third-party charging pads, which would mean existing Qi charging accessories would be unsupported …

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Update: Apple has announced that the Swift app development curriculum noted below is being expanded to more community colleges.

Apple today announced the App Development with Swift curriculum will now be offered in more than 30 community college systems across the country in the 2017-2018 school year, providing opportunities to millions of students to build apps that will prepare them for careers in software development and information technology. The Austin Community College District (ACC), one of the nation’s largest higher learning institutions, will begin offering the course to its 74,000 students this fall.

It will be a bit of a disappointment if this turns out to be the entirety of Apple’s announcements today …

Tim Cook is currently travelling around the USA, with stops in Ohio and Iowa before moving on to Austin, Texas. According to a speech by Austin mayor Steve Adler, Apple will be announcing a new nationwide training program later today.

I’m in a press conference tomorrow with Apple, and Tim Cook is here as we’re announcing a training program for people. They’re announcing it all over the country.

The visit to Iowa came ahead of Apple confirming plans for a new $1.3B data center in Waukee …

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We are still waiting for Apple’s invites for the September iPhone event to go out, which is expected sometime in the first half of the month.

Until the official unveiling happens, there’s still time for iPhone 8 rumors. The price of the premium OLED iPhone has been the subject of much debate, and now The New York Times has chimed in. It reports that the iPhone 8 will be priced ‘around $999’ …

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A suggestion by Barclays that ‘only’ one in five iPhone owners will be willing to pay the rumored $1000+ price of the iPhone 8 has been countered by survey results showing the loyalty people feel to the Apple brand and ecosystem.

While Barclays feared iPhone owners might defect to Samsung, the survey by Fluent indicates that this isn’t at all likely …

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Almost a year ago, a comment by Tim Cook suggested that he had experienced using an Apple Pencil on an iPhone.

If you’ve ever seen what can be created with that pencil on an iPad or an iPhone, it’s really unbelievable.

Patently Apple later spotted a series of patents describing just this, and two more have been published today …

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Samsung today officially announced its new flagship Galaxy Note 8 device ahead of Apple’s iPhone 8 and compared some of the device’s new features directly to iPhone.

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While earlier reports have suggested that the iPhone 8 will be available in just two storage tiers – 64GB and 256GB – a new rumor today suggests that there will be a third option: 512GB.

Is this overkill for a phone, or does it make sense these days? You could make an argument either way …

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As Apple’s September event draws closer, the iPhone 8 rumors continue to circulate. Today, Chinese poster GeekBar (which has a decent track record of iPhone leaks, although by no means infallible) has reported that the new high-end OLED iPhone will be offered in three storage capacities.

The source says that the iPhone 8 base model is 64 GB, a welcomed doubling of the entry model 32 GB iPhone 7. The mid tier model would be 256 GB and — brand new to the iPhone line — a high-end 512 GB storage option would also be offered.

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While the iPhone 8 is expected to have quite a few new features, not all of them are totally new. Some have been borrowed from earlier iPhones – like the glass back seen previously on the iPhone 4 and 4S – while others use tech first seen on competitor phones …

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The same source which yesterday posted a claimed iPhone 8 display assembly and more has now posted what is said to be a 3D camera module for the upcoming phone.

As always with these things, there’s no way to know whether it’s genuine, but with volume production well underway, and a great many companies in the supply-chain, it’s almost impossible for Apple to prevent parts leaking at this stage …

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Developer Guilherme Rambo has been on a roll over the last month, uncovering a host of new details about Apple’s upcoming devices. Tonight, he’s shared a video found in the iOS 11 beta that could give us a look at how the app switcher may work on the iPhone 8 without Touch ID/a physical Home button.

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In a new report out by KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo, the group believes that Apple has a significant lead on Qualcomm in the 3D sensing technology space. KGI reports that Qualcomm won’t be making significant shipments until at least 2019.

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A Korean report on the Samsung-made OLED display for the iPhone 8 claims that the speed of the facial-recognition system used in the device will be measured in ‘millionths of a second.’

All the latest reports are pointing to Apple abandoning TouchID in the new flagship phone, replacing it with face recognition for both unlock and Apple Pay authorization. Though concerns have been expressed about this, it appears that Apple may have successfully addressed them …

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iPhone 8 parts continue to appear on Chinese social media as the official unveiling September Apple event draws closer. Whilst a timeframe has yet to leak out, historical patterns point to September 6th as a likely date.

In this latest leaks (via Slashleaks), various purported components for the iPhone 8 are on show, including the flex cables for power transfer, part of the internal components for the Lightning cable and the display assembly (with the notch, as expected). More photos below …

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A variety of concepts have taken on the task of imagining what Apple’s upcoming iPhone 8 will look like, both in terms of hardware changes and iOS changes. This afternoon, a new concept from John Calkins provides an optimistic look at how Apple will make changes to iOS for the iPhone 8…

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We don’t even know for sure what this year’s flagship iPhone will be called (iPhone 8 simply being used as convenient shorthand) or when it will be available. But Germany’s Telekom isn’t letting that stand between its customers and a reservation for the new device …

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Apple’s generous returns policy is one of its real strengths, giving new customers the confidence to buy an expensive product in the knowledge that they can return it for a full refund within 14 days for any reason or no reason at all. But a change introduced today adopts a far stricter approach in Hong Kong …

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It’s looking increasingly like facial recognition will replace Touch ID as the biometric unlock and Apple Pay authorization method in the iPhone 8 – with Apple likely to be selling this as one of the headline features.

But any technical advantage Apple’s facial recognition system may offer over Android phones will be short-lived, claims chipmaker Qualcomm, promising that its upcoming chip will match or beat the iPhone 8’s performance …

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