This iPhone 8 Concept Shows Off Wireless Charging [VIDEO]

Updated on

It’s an open secret that Apple’s 10th anniversary iPhone would feature major design changes. However, it is still unclear whether the handset would be called iPhone 8 or iPhone X or something else. The device is said to have an edge-to-edge OLED display, some sort of wireless charging, and no physical home button. YouTube channel Apple Designer has come up with an exciting iPhone 8 concept that highlights these features.

iPhone 8
hurk / Pixabay

A ‘function area’ to replace the home button

To begin with, the concept has a bezel-less display. Even the front camera is part of the display. There is no physical home button. The concept iPhone 8 features an on-screen Touch ID fingerprint sensor. However, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in his latest research report that the physical home button would be replaced by a “function area” at the bottom that would house virtual buttons.

Though the iPhone 8 would have a 5.8-inch screen, the active display area would be only 5.15-inch. The rest of the real estate would be occupied by the function area. The system functions are said to be similar to the OLED Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro. Kuo says that besides the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, the next-gen iPhone would feature a 3D sensing module for facial recognition.

What wireless charging tech would iPhone 8 have?

Apple Designer’s concept shows off a wireless charging transmitter, which looks like an Apple TV set-top box. The transmitter can charge the iPhone 8 without the phone being placed on a charging mat. Though there have been speculations that the 10th anniversary iPhone would offer long-distance wireless charging, more recent reports claim that Apple would stick to inductive wireless charging.

Earlier this month, Apple officially joined the Wireless Power Consortium, which oversees the Qi inductive charging standard. Qi has become a popular technology among smartphone vendors. Apple’s manufacturing partner Foxconn has already been testing wireless charging modules that would go into the iPhone 8.

iPhone 8 won’t have any physical buttons

The concept includes volume and power buttons on the side. But sources within Apple told Fast Company last week that the iPhone 8 would have no physical buttons at all. These buttons are said to be replaced by “touch-sensitive inlays” in the metal frame. The handset will have a glass front and back supported by a stainless steel in the middle.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told investors that Apple would use a substrate-like PCB mainboard in the iPhone 8 to make room for a bigger battery. The stacked logic board would allow the company to pack a 2,700mAh battery in the device, which is much bigger than the 1,950mAh battery inside the iPhone 7. Both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 are said to have the same dimensions.

The 10th anniversary iPhone may cost upward of $1,000, according to Kuo.

Leave a Comment