I've been reading all of the rumors about the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, and also the IPhone 8. They've been running a race for fingerprint scanning built into the display, and I was curious to see who would win. Short answer, probably neither. The Note will have it built into the back of the phone.
But the more interesting updates have been for the iPhone.
They don't seem to have any fingerprint scanner at this point, since they failed to put it into the screen. They could put it on back, but they haven't ordered the parts yet and time is running out.
No fingerprint scanner means that they will be relying on facial recognition. This poses some problems, including the fact that it isn't yet reliable enough to be used for highly secure features, such as Apple Pay. So, no Apple Pay at launch?
Still no headphone jack.
Wireless charging is a big new addition, but new rumors suggest that it may not actually work at launch.
The rumor is that the screen will cover the entire front of the phone, but there will be a notch on the top of the screen, for the camera, sensors, etc. So while it will technically have a lot of screen space, I don't think that space will all be usable for games, videos, pictures, etc. It will mostly be status bar stuff.
Rumors are also saying that parts may be in short supply, so the number of available phones may be lower than normal, resulting in a delay in availability.
Rumors also suggest that Apple may be asking as much as $1200 for the basic iPhone 8, and possibly up to $1500 for the better one, because they're going for a "pro" crowd.
I'm not an Apple person, so I'm curious how this sounds to their customers. I'm sure that it will have better screen resolution and processing, and all of that. But can Apple charge that much money for a phone that seems to be cutting some features that people either rely on or were expecting to be added?
All of this is based on rumors and anonymous sources, so while it would pass CNN standards, it is really just hypothetical right now, for the sake of discussion. I'm just curious to know how these rumors look to anyone who might actually consider an iPhone.
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