Together with the rumored iPhone 8 launch, Apple will also release later this 2017 the 4.7-inch iPhone 7S and the 5.5-inch iPhone 7S Plus. The latter two will be mass produced making use mostly of aluminum structure while the flagship next iPhone will boast of an all-glass build, new reports said.
From Asia, DigiTimes reported that the tech giant is indeed shipping out three new iPhone models this year and one will have a 5.8-inch screen profile with a dominant glass chassis. The build is "made of reinforced glass with a stainless steel metal frame," the report added.
DigiTimes also claimed that the 4.7-inch form factor, speculated to be called the iPhone 7S, will largely retain the build and design of the iPhone 7 series that was introduced in 2016. The refreshed model "will continue using an aluminum-alloy chassis," the report said.
No details were provided for the 5.5-inch model, likely to be labeled iPhone 7S Plus, but the chance is high that it will be rendered the same way as its immediate predecessor, meaning the Apple phablet will also be built around an aluminum frame.
The supply chain update essentially confirmed the recent forecast issued by KGI Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo that there will be three new iPhones to unbox this 2017. And the banner handset will be the iPhone 8, which according to Kuo will feature an OLED display and virtual control keys. The latter feature upgrade indicates that the Home button will be no more in time for the next iPhone rollout.
In his new research note, picked up by MacRumors, Kuo predicted that the iPhone 8 will sport a 5.8-inch OLED screen but the build profile will only measure as that of the iPhone 7S or roughly 4.7-inch. Having a bigger display but with the same 7S build is highly likely as the iPhone 8 is said to present an all-screen profile.
Kuo in fact stated on his report that the iPhone 8 usable touchscreen will measure around 5.15-inch. The engineering is deliberate to optimize the device for one-hand use, MacRumors said on its report.
As for the Touch ID that was embedded with the Home button, no specific reconfiguration was included in the Kuo report. However, MacRumors offered this possibility: "Because the OLED iPhone will eliminate the Home button, it is expected to adopt other biometric technologies which other rumors suggest could include things like iris or facial recognition."
Kuo said Apple appears pretty confident that the iPhone 8 will rewrite the brand's sales history that the plan is to ship out no less than 60 million units of the model in the second half of 2017. That target is to deliver 100 million new iPhones and clear them out before yearend, the analyst predicted.