Another day, another report about features that may be coming to the iPhone 8 later this summer. Today’s fresh report comes from Economic Daily News (translated version by Digitimes) and drops some prominent hints about the features coming to this overhauled 10th Anniversary device. It talks about the optical fingerprint sensor, a wild screen aspect ratio, and camera upgrades coming to the said device later this year.
Citing sources from Apple’s primary chip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), it has confirmed a long-rumored speculation. At this year’s TSMC NA Technology Symposium, the supplier talked about the lack of a home button on the new iPhone 8 model and talked about the redesigned sensor.
The new fingerprint reader, along with the Touch ID setup, is integrated into the display and will enable owners of this smartphone to place their finger directly on the OLED display to authenticate their identity. The on-screen sensor will be a nifty replacement for the clunky old home button and has been made possible due to the use of:
an optical fingerprint sensor to enable authentication directly on the screen.
In addition, the sources also continue to suggest that iPhone 8’s camera set up, which is expected to be a vertical dual-camera one, will come packed with invisible infrared image sensors. These will enable Apple to enhance the functionality of the new high-pixel camera, which is expected to introduce augmented reality features this time around. It is also expected to bring along facial recognition features to the front camera of the device.
Most executives, including CEO Tim Cook has been very vocal about the importance of innovation in AR technologies in the coming years. And this could be Cupertino’s way of testing a new prototype AR technology among the masses, while also providing them an enhanced camera experience. And it would appear even crisper on the massive 5.8-inch display, which will have a footprint that is smaller than the iPhone 7 Plus.
And the report also confirms yet another speculation that has been making rounds of the interwebs for quite some time. The iPhone 8 is expected to introduce a completely new aspect ratio (as we’ve already seen with most bezel-less phones launched this year). It is going to move past the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio on iPhone 7 to 18.5:9 on the iPhone 8 – which is also expected to include, for the first time, wireless charging.
