Apple To Release iPhone 7, No iPhone 7S, Straight to iPhone 8

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iPhone 8 here we come?

As always, whether to indemnify myself from wild speculation and rumor or simply add to a mandatory word count for SEO purposes, I have no idea what I’m talking about when it comes to Apple speculation. I simply report what others, whom also have no idea what Apple has planned given the company’s tight-lipped culture, have to say and today the focus falls on a Barclay’s analyst that is calling for a “mega cycle” upgrade of the anticipated iPhone 7 (September release?) next year.

Wild, speculative analyst fun and the iPhone 8

The Barclays analyst in question is one Mark Moskowitz, who sees Apple completely throwing past practices into the fire. Mr. Moskowitz is predicting that Apple will, indeed, release the iPhone 7 in the fall of this year and well ahead of the holiday shopping season. But, In a bold prediction he is calling for Apple to skip the iPhone 7S that many would expect the company to pawn off on the consumer next year. Instead, he’s suggesting that Apple will come out swinging in 2017 with the iPhone 8 that will see a major overhaul and a dissension from past practices.

Apple has traditionally gone this route with its offerings, offering internal upgrades without changing much with regards to the model that preceded it.

While most who cover this nonsense (rumors) are predicting that Apple is planning on doing away with the 3.5mm headphone jack, few are calling for an OLED screen nor wireless charging. But that is precisely what our Barclays analyst is calling for in 2017.

This “mega cycle” upgrade, in Moskowitz’s estimations would increase iPhone (8) sales by 10.3%. Given the consistent problems iPhone users have experienced with the overuse of the iPhone’s home button over nearly every model, Mostkowitz is also calling on the company to get rid of it completely as well as properly alter the the design of the Apple’s savior and best seller.

Based on supply chain reporting and leaking of the iPhone 8, the analyst believes that an OLED panel is a done deal and that Apple will move away from its two-chip layout and go with a single integrated one that it develops in-house. I don’t know where he is getting all of this, but I for one like it especially if a Touch ID-enabled screen sees the demise of the home button.

Moskowitz wrote, “Silver lining – there might be no “S” cycle in C2017.Our conversations with industry participants suggest Apple could skip the “S” cycle next year and instead jump to IP8. The jump could showcase major form factor changes, including OLED, no home button, and wireless charging. In our view, these potential changes could drive a mega cycle, underpinning our C2017 iPhone unit growth estimate of 10.3%, vs. 6.3% previously.”

iPhone 8 is fun but what will the iPhone 7 include

Apparently, Moskowitz doesn’t see much from the iPhone 7 as it won’t have “any must-have form factor changes.” What’s frightening is this won’t be a problem for Apple. It’s customer loyalty is responsible for a group of millions that simply won’t the newest regardless of what’s on offer from Apple. Throw in an anticipated iOS 10 and you’re average iPhone user will sleep in the rain and line up in front of stores around the country in order to show it off to his or her co-workers.

Apple does look at sales numbers beyond engineering new toys so these predictions might not be too out of order despite being completely against past practices by the Cupertino, CA company given weak iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus sales that have petered out beyond the initial excitement.