Instead, the new flagship phone will be marketed as iPhone Edition, according to a new report from reliable Japanese blog Mac Otakara. The iPhone Edition brand would reportedly be used to signal that the smartphone is a higher-end model, similar to the top-of-the-range Apple Watch, which also carries the Edition moniker. Previous rumours suggest iPhone Edition could start at an eye-watering $1,000, roughly £820. The latest report from Mac Otakara also claims Apple is still testing a number of different prototypes for the new flagship iPhone. Apple is purportedly experimenting with a number of different display technologies and materials.
Prototypes being tested in Cupertino include some iPhone Edition models with an LCD display, while others use an AMOLED panel. Other prototypes are being passed around the Apple campus with and without physical Home Buttons, the report adds. Apple is also believed to be experimenting with glass, aluminium and white ceramic chassis for the device. In fact, the other features Apple is reportedly certain of are the new five-inch display size, wireless charging and dual camera set-up. That display size refers to the primary touchscreen area, which will be around 5.15 inches, according to the latest whispers from Cupertino. Meanwhile, the rest of the touchscreen – which will reportedly bleed to the very edges of the phone – will be reserved for a row of virtual on-screen buttons. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, the overall footprint of the smartphone will be similar to that of the iPhone 6, iPhone 6S and iPhone 7, which all have a 4.7-inch LED display.
Apple purportedly plans to debut an edge-to-edge display in an effort to keep the physical size of the device down, while simultaneously increasing the size of the display. Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive is reportedly designing the phone so that it resembles "a single sheet of glass". Apple is hotly-tipped to ditch the physical Home Button from the front of the smartphone, so that it can reduce the bezels around the display. But the dramatic changes planned for the next iPhone will not just be surface-deep.
According to a new research note from UBS, Apple has put together a team of more than 1,000 engineers working on Augmented Reality (AR) technology ready for the iPhone. Augmented Reality sees artificial elements – like video footage, CGI animation or GPS data – placed on-top of real-world elements.
Whatever happens this report comes as a shock to us all.