Apple to unveil iPhone 8 at its new HQ on September 12th

Apple will unveil the eagerly anticipated iPhone 8 at a special event on 12th September in the Steve Jobs Theater inside it new ‘Spaceship’ HQ in Cupertino.

The firm today sent invites to key media for the event, which is also expected to see the launch of an iPhone 7s and 7s Plus, a new version of the Apple Watch and a new 4K Apple TV.

They say ‘Let’s meet at our place’.

 

The firm sent invites to key media for the event, which is also expected to see the launch of an iPhone 7s and 7s Plus, a new version of the Apple Watch and a new 4K Apple TV.

It is believed the new iPhone 8 will go on sale on September 22nd.

The latest claims from the Wall Street Journal are that ‘The company is expected to unveil three iPhones, according to other people familiar with its plans.’

The launch will be the first event at the Steve Jobs theater at Apple Park, the official name for the firm’s giant ‘Spaceship’ HQ.

The Steve Jobs Theater is situated on top of a hill — one of the highest points within Apple Park — overlooking meadows and the main building. Opening on September 12th, the entrance to the 1,000-seat auditorium is a 20-foot-tall glass cylinder, 165 feet in diameter, supporting a metallic carbon-fibre roof

The Steve Jobs Theater is situated on top of a hill — one of the highest points within Apple Park — overlooking meadows and the main building. Opening on September 12th, the entrance to the 1,000-seat auditorium is a 20-foot-tall glass cylinder, 165 feet in diameter, supporting a metallic carbon-fibre roof

Even though the theatre will be complete, many of the surround areas of ‘the ring’ remain under final construction it is believed. 

It comes as leaked images appear to show parts taken from the upcoming iPhone 8 in unprecedented detail.

The images, posted to Twitter by leaker Benjamin Geskin, claim to show the iPhone 8’s OLED display cover and a variety of cables, including for the Lightning port.

One of the photos, originally found on Chinese social media site Weibo, shows the iPhone 8s’ display compared to that of the iPhone 7.

This confirms rumours about the two handsets’ similar overall size. 

Leaked images appear to show parts taken from the upcoming iPhone 8 in unprecedented detail. This image seems to show the display of the upcoming handset

Leaked images appear to show parts taken from the upcoming iPhone 8 in unprecedented detail. This image seems to show the display of the upcoming handset

IPHONE 8 RUMOURS 

Several rumors have been circulating about the iPhone 8, and suggest the next device may have:

– Dual-lens 3D camera

– Augmented reality capabilities

– Curved glass casing

– Wireless charging

– 5 inch (12.7 centimeter) and 5.8 inch (14.7 centimeter) model, will have a wraparound OLED screen

– Aluminum back will be replaced with two reinforced glass panes and a metal frame in the middle

– Facial recognition

– 128GB will cost $999

– 256GB will cost $1,099 

With less than a month to go until the handset is expected to be officially launched, Apple’s flagship smartphone is now reportedly in mass production.

Rumours have followed the device since its announcement but leaks of images of components have stepped up their pace since production began.

Apple is anticipated to unveil the iPhone 8 alongside the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus in September. 

The iPhone 8 is expected to come with a 5.8-inch display, but the lack of bezels surrounding it means that the full case appears to be only slightly bit bigger than the 4.7-inches of the iPhone 7. 

In the months leading up to the official unveiling of Apple’s next smartphone, rumours have been rapidly circulating online about its expected design, specifications and features. 

Many have come from physical accessories and components reportedly for the handset, as with this latest leak

The iPhone 8 is expected to come with a 5.8-inch display (pictured), but the lack of bezels surrounding it means that the full case appears to be only slightly bit bigger than the 4.7-inches of the iPhone 7.

The iPhone 8 is expected to come with a 5.8-inch display (pictured), but the lack of bezels surrounding it means that the full case appears to be only slightly bit bigger than the 4.7-inches of the iPhone 7.

One of the photos, originally found on Chinese social media site Weibo, appears to show the iPhone 8s’ display (left) compared to that of the iPhone 7 (right)

One of the photos, originally found on Chinese social media site Weibo, appears to show the iPhone 8s’ display (left) compared to that of the iPhone 7 (right)

KEY FEATURES OF APPLE’S SPACESHIP-LIKE CAMPUS 2

Appearing as a giant saucer, the Silicon Valley site near the 280 Highway will be home to 13,000 Apple employees.

There will be jogging and cycling trails, with more than a thousand bikes kept on site at all times, which staff can use to make their way around.

The Spaceship will have 360-degree curved glass fronted walls and central courtyard as well as a 1,000-seater auditorium, a gym and 300,000 square feet of ‘research’ space.

Apple Campus 2 will additionally have underground parking hidden from view, meaning 80 per cent of the site can be covered in trees. The site was previously owned by Hewlett Packard and the majority of the area is currently covered in asphalt.

Elsewhere underground, the auditorium will be where Apple’s CEO Tim Cook will present the companies keynotes ahead of product launches, for example. This auditorium will be covered with a circular glass pavilion that will also be an access point for employees and guests.

Natural gas will, primarily, provide the building’s power and the local energy grid will only be accessed in emergencies. 

The glass structure will also be fitted with solar panels. 

The circular, four-storey building will be around a mile in circumference and a third of a mile wide and was recently described by the San Fransisco Weekly as a ‘massive glass doughnut’.

The building stays eco-friendly with natural ventilation that works instead of air-conditioning for 70 per cent of the year, low energy LED lighting where natural light doesn’t reach, and on-site recycling

A case for the iPhone 8 revealed what appears to be the best peek at the much-anticipated handset yet. 

The render of the case shows a ‘notch’ design with no home button, which lines up with all the information leaked about the device so far.

The latest in a string of leaked images comes from a case maker, who often get an early look at devices in order to have cases ready at the time of launch.

The leaked render comes courtesy of well-known Apple leaker Evan Blass, who shared it on Twitter.

Mark Gurman, another well-known Apple insider, replied saying the image above represents ‘a good look at the notch’ of the iPhone 8.

As The Verge pointed out, it appears the case is an Urban Armor Gear design, which sells the exact same model for the iPhone 7 series.

Others have noticed an unexplained potential problem with the image – the phone pictured is clearly not running iOS 11 (which will be the operating system for the iPhone 8), as indicated by the presence of bars instead of dots indicating signal strength. 

In recent weeks an iOS developer has analysed leaked code for the HomePod smart speaker, which seems to hold hidden secrets relating to the iPhone.

By just glancing at the device, users will be able to silence notifications.The capability was discovered by Guilherme Rambo, an iOS developer who found code suggesting the feature in the leaked HomePod software and has been tweeting other findings over the past few weeks

By just glancing at the device, users will be able to silence notifications.The capability was discovered by Guilherme Rambo, an iOS developer who found code suggesting the feature in the leaked HomePod software and has been tweeting other findings over the past few weeks

WHAT DOES THE CODE REVEAL?

Because the HomePod speaker will have to work with Apple’s new phone, it contains references to some of the upcoming features in its code, including: 

– Removal of the home button

– A ‘tap to wake’ feature 

– An edgeless display

– An infrared camera 

– A ‘SmartCam’ 

– 4K video at 60 fps

– Facial expression detection, which may be used for Apple Pay and silencing notifications 

They suggest that the iPhone 8 will feature a hands-free way to silence notifications. 

By just glancing at the device, users will be able to mute sounds and ringtones for text, calls and other notifications.

The capability was discovered by Guilherme Rambo, who has been tweeting other findings over the past few weeks. 

A feature that utilises similar technology has been available on some Samsung phones for several generations.

Called, ‘Smart Stay,’ it keeps the phone active when a user is looking at the screen.

Not much else is known about this feature for the upcoming iPhone other than the fact that is made possible by the rumored facial recognition technology, which was also discovered by Rambo.

Earlier this month, he first suggested the new device will likely feature facial expression detection after uncovering a potential ‘attention detection’ feature in the code.

Mr Rambo tweeted: 'There's also a lot of new references to facial expression detection,' along with the section of the code he was referring to=

Mr Rambo tweeted: ‘There’s also a lot of new references to facial expression detection,’ along with the section of the code he was referring to=

He tweeted: ‘There’s also a lot of new references to facial expression detection,’ along with the section of the code he was referring to.

Facial references include ‘mouthsmile’, ‘mouthfrown’ and ‘mouthpucker,’ which are likely to be linked to the rumored facial recognition feature.

Days later, he uncovered one of the first additional uses for the facial recognition technology – Apple Pay.

It’s now believed facial recognition rather than Touch ID will be used to authenticate payments.

The specific code references ‘passbook.payment.contactlessinterface’ with ‘pearl.field-detect’ and ‘pearl.pre-arm,’ which is believed to the rumored Face ID.  

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk