'iPhone 8' to come in three sizes, feature glass backs across the board - report

AppleInsider · October 26, 2016 5:12PM

Apple is planning to launch next year's flagship iPhone in 4.7-, 5-, and 5.5-inch sizes, and will likely use glass backs for all three, a Japanese report claimed on Wednesday.

A concept render of an edge-to-edge iPhone display.

The company could still go back to the metal casings used on current iPhones, a source explained to Nikkei Asian Review, calling Apple's position on glass "tentative." The person added that Apple likewise decided to drop production of a single-lens 5.5-inch iPhone 7 just six months before the iPhone 7 Plus debuted in September.

Both the front and back glass will allegedly be supplied by Biel and Lens. The phone should still make some use of metal, namely a frame holding both sides together.

Foxconn and its subsidiaries have reportedly been working on glass backs, but are expected to lose out for technological reasons. That could impact the company's bottom line, since it also makes metal casings for the iPhone SE and iPhone 7 Plus, sharing regular iPhone 7 casing orders with Catcher and Jabil. Foxconn is, however, Apple's main assembly partner on the iPhone.

The 2017 iPhone is widely expected to be a major redesign. Nikkei has indicated that while the 5.5-inch model will have a curved OLED display, much like Samsung's Galaxy S7 Edge, the two smaller models may stick to the LTPS technology used on the iPhone 7.

ireland · October 26, 2016 5:23PM

If the 4.7" is as comfortable to hold and not much heavier than SE that would be nice. Especially if all three have feature parity. My only concern is how when dropped both sides may smash. I fail to see how that's better than an aluminium unibody construction.

edited October 2016

thewhitefalcon · October 26, 2016 5:29PM

ireland said:

If the 4.7" is as comfortable to hold and not much heavier than SE that would be nice. Especially if all three have feature parity. My only concern is how when dropped both sides may smash. I fail to see how that's better than an aluminium unibody construction.

I mean, we've already had this glass and metal sandwich design with the 4 and 4S. Sure, some broke, but it wasn't epidemic.

chumlines · October 26, 2016 5:31PM

I hope they make it thinner so that when I get a battery case to protect the glass and extend the battery life, it will still be thinner than last year's model.

tmay · October 26, 2016 5:41PM

Be nice if the 5 inch would support the Pencil; plenty of demand for such, and that would put pressure on the Note 8 for people that would consider iOS.

schlack · October 26, 2016 5:43PM

wish they'd make the 4" phone a full on iPhone 8 rather than a second class citizen...

spamsandwich · October 26, 2016 5:44PM

All glass everywhere would be a Samsung-level mistake I don't see Apple making.

fallenjt · October 26, 2016 5:47PM

Dumbest rumor! Why the fuck does Apple want to make 5" while the 4.7" is there? I can understand 4.5" 5" and 5.5". The only reason for 5" is to kill 4.7" and I doubt Apple will do that unless they decide to change the entire line up to : 4.3", 5" and 5.8". Still: no way!

edited October 2016

fallenjt · October 26, 2016 5:51PM

schlack said:

wish they'd make the 4" phone a full on iPhone 8 rather than a second class citizen...

Unless you're willing to pay the first class price. Apple's purpose is to make SE affordable and with first class specs? Nah!

ireland · October 26, 2016 5:53PM

sog35 said:

ireland said:

If the 4.7" is as comfortable to hold and not much heavier than SE that would be nice. Especially if all three have feature parity. My only concern is how when dropped both sides may smash. I fail to see how that's better than an aluminium unibody construction.

Glass isn't better than aluminium.
Its just different.

And that's exactly what the market wants.

I want what I want.

rayz2016 · October 26, 2016 6:08PM

The company could still go back to the metal casings used on current iPhones, a source explained to Nikkei Asian Review, calling Apple's position on glass "tentative." The person added that Apple likewise decided to drop production of a single-lens 5.5-inch iPhone 7 just six months before the iPhone 7 Plus debuted in September.

What a load of old bollox. I'd have more respect for these analysts if they would admit that they're guessing and that sometimes they get it wrong. Blaming their faulty analyses on mythical changes of direction just makes them look even more worthless than they actually are.

igorsky · October 26, 2016 6:08PM

I call BS. Absolutely no point to have a 4.7" and 5" phone in the same lineup.

igorsky · October 26, 2016 6:09PM

SpamSandwich said:

All glass everywhere would be a Samsung-level mistake I don't see Apple making.

Worked well for the iPhone 4. Don't compare Apple to design retards like Samsung.

edited October 2016

mrboba1 · October 26, 2016 6:41PM

If they reduced the bezel, could they not fit a 4.7" screen in the current 4" phone size? It obviously doesn't have the same dimensions, but is still a 4.7" screen.
Of course, then we have reprogramming again to the different screens, like when they brought out the 5 (I think).

longpath · October 26, 2016 6:54PM

I doubt sincerely that Apple will go back to glass, unless "glass" refers to metallic glasses like Liquidmetal. I think it's far more likely that a ceramic, such as used on Apple Watch Edition (Series 2) will be the material used. For one thing, Apple has extensive patents on forming ceramics, and manipulating the thermal conductivity of those ceramics. For another, to someone unfamiliar with materials tech, the gloss of Apple's ceramic material could cause it to easily be mistaken for glass, while having none of the structural limitations of silica glass.

mervynyan · October 26, 2016 6:55PM

Let's speculate 7s first.

soli · October 26, 2016 6:59PM

sog35 said:

ireland said:

If the 4.7" is as comfortable to hold and not much heavier than SE that would be nice. Especially if all three have feature parity. My only concern is how when dropped both sides may smash. I fail to see how that's better than an aluminium unibody construction.

Glass isn't better than aluminium.
Its just different.

And that's exactly what the market wants.

There are innumerable reasons why glass-based material is both better and worse than aluminum. Note that Liquidmetal is a metallic glass, not a glass-like metal.

soli · October 26, 2016 7:00PM

longpath said:

I doubt sincerely that Apple will go back to glass, unless "glass" refers to metallic glasses like Liquidmetal. I think it's far more likely that a ceramic, such as used on Apple Watch Edition (Series 2) will be the material used. For one thing, Apple has extensive patents on forming ceramics, and manipulating the thermal conductivity of those ceramics. For another, to someone unfamiliar with materials tech, the gloss of Apple's ceramic material could cause it to easily be mistaken for glass, while having none of the structural limitations of silica glass.

Ceramic may come eventually, but I think the cost of Watch Series 2 Edition shows that's probably, at least, several years away from having a low enough cost and being mass produced within a certain QA to be a viable solution.

soli · October 26, 2016 7:06PM

mrboba1 said:

If they reduced the bezel, could they not fit a 4.7" screen in the current 4" phone size? It obviously doesn't have the same dimensions, but is still a 4.7" screen.
Of course, then we have reprogramming again to the different screens, like when they brought out the 5 (I think).

They're both 16:9 displays. The question is whether you can get an extra 0.7"(17.78mm) in the same casing without making the width of the device (the dimension that matters when using with one hand) into the iPhone 6 SE. Eyeballing it, I don't think it's possible, but I'd prefer to have actual factual numbers, which is a 1.96" display v 2.30" display for the 4" and 4.7" models with their 16:9 aspect ratios*. (2.30" - 1.96") ÷ 2 = 0.17"(4.318mm) needing to be shavable on each side.

* The formula for getting the length and width is using the known diagonal length and known aspect ratio with the Pythagorean Theorem: (9b/16)^2 + b^2 = c^2 or b = sqrt(256c^2/337). Or use one of the many online aspect ratio calculators.

edited October 2016

lmagoo · October 26, 2016 7:10PM

Well I don't want a curved iPhone....Flat is the only form factor that fits in a pants front pocket....the same reason I don't want the 7+Phablet......Something that resembles the iPhone 7 in size and form factor makes to production! I love my new iPhone 7 though...

leavingthebigg · October 26, 2016 7:24PM

sog35 said:

ireland said:

If the 4.7" is as comfortable to hold and not much heavier than SE that would be nice. Especially if all three have feature parity. My only concern is how when dropped both sides may smash. I fail to see how that's better than an aluminium unibody construction.

Glass isn't better than aluminium.
Its just different.

And that's exactly what the market wants.

The market as in analysts want. When they get what they want and the breaks start, Apple will be blamed for developing a half-assed product. The analysts will remain silent about want they wanted. And, you of course, would call for Tim Cook's resignation.

Thankfully, Apple is not Samsung and hopefully will develop a product paying customers want no matter what the analysts say.

'iPhone 8' to come in three sizes, feature glass backs across the board - report

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