Apple’s iPhone 8 was ‘plagued with glitches’

Apple’s new iPhone, which is expected to be unveiled on Tuesday, was ‘plagued by production glitches early in the manufacturing process’ that could lead to major shortages when it goes on sale, it has been claimed.

The claims, made by The Wall Street Journal, say the delays led to a setback of a month in the start of manufacturing.

It blames problems with the new OLED screen in the technology, and Apple’s attempt to put a fingerprint sensor under the screen – which were eventually abandoned.

‘If shortfalls of the new phone extend beyond the initial sales period, which is expected to begin September 22, they could weaken analysts’ and investors’ projections for sales in the crucial holiday period,’ the Journal says. 

It says Apple was forced to abandon its initial plan to embed an ‘invisible’ fingerprint scanner under the screen.

Instead, users will use a passcode or a new facial recognition system, it is believed.

Earlier this week a video emerged on Reddit that claims to show the device in operation.

It comes after months of rumours about Apple’s next smartphone, ranging from an all-screen display to a 3D facial recognition sensor.

The short clip appears to confirm several rumours, including a near-edgeless display and virtual home button.   

The video of the alleged device was posted on Reddit this week by a user called horryshiet, along with the caption ‘Alleged working iPhone 8.’ 

It shows small bezels and a cutout space at the top that will feature the front-facing camera and speaker. 

Techradar notes the cutout at the top of the display doesn’t look to be symmetrical suggesting it may be a fake

Several people in the Reddit thread have also questioned the video.

Randolm replied: ‘I don’t know, I just don’t trust a video that is…1. Filmed in the dark…2. Where you can’t see anything but the screen. Half of the screen shots are blurred… if you’re ‘leaking’ it why blur.’

And DreadnaughtHamster suggested the clip could be CGI, commenting: ‘Blurring a CG composite makes it easier to hide mistakes.

‘That’s why so many large wide shot battle scenes in movies have all this CG dust everywhere. Blurring does something similar.’

Apple finally confirmed that the new iPhone will be revealed at the new Steve Jobs theatre inside the ‘Spaceship’ HQ on September 12 – at which point the various rumours that have been swirling will finally be confirmed or put to rest.

It is believed the snaps were taken at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou Technology Park — one of the company’s manufacturing ‘cities’ in the Henan province, where over 100,000 staff work on assembling devices like the iPhone

Here are the rumours so far.  

What will the device be called?

There have been several rumours about what Apple will name its 10th anniversary device. 

Yesterday, sources speaking to iCulture claimed that Apple will be naming the device ‘iPhone X’ to mark its 10th anniversary milestone.

Apple’s tenth anniversary iPhone will be called the iPhone X according to Dutch tech site iCulture. Pictured is a mock up of the case posted on Twitter by Senior Editor of The iPhone Insider Aaron Mason

The source also suggested it will be launched alongside two phones, which will be called the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus – and, this could mean Apple is skipping an ‘s’ generation for the first time since it was introduced.

But at the end of last week, 9to5Mac said that case manufacturers it spoke to at the IFA trade show in Germany has been advised that the top of the range handset will instead be known as the iPhone Edition. 

‘One casemaker has updated their internal SKUs based on the information and is actively printing packaging which I was able to see in the form of preliminary artwork,’ 9to5mac’s Seth Weintraub claims.

‘The other had made sticker labels which they were showing to their retail partners behind closed doors. Both makers requested anonymity for obvious reasons.’

But J.P. Morgan Apple analyst Rod Hall believes the new handset will be called the ‘iPhone Pro’, according to 9to5Mac. 

New pictures revealing what Apple’s next iPhone could look like have been posted to Twitter by a usually trusted source

How will it be unlocked?  

The next iPhone could have an ‘invisible’ fingerprint sensor, according to a new patent.

At the end of August, Apple was granted a patent for acoustic fingerprint imaging technology that would be invisible and live under the device’s screen.

It would recognise a fingerprint by acoustic output and be accurate enough to replace the current Touch ID system.

However, it is believed Apple could not make the system work consistently in the new OLED screens, so abandoned the plans. 

Apple has patented acoustic fingerprint imaging technology that would be invisible and live under a phone’s screen. It would be accurate enough to replace the current Touch ID system. Pictured, an example of an iPhone that can include the acoustic fingerprint imaging technology

Other reports have said Apple is scrapping the fingerprint-sensing technology all together in favour of facial recognition; however, it’s possible both could be included. 

Another leak from Bloomberg has also suggested Apple’s next iPhone will see the replacement of the smartphone’s classic home button with gesture controls.

Users will simply swipe their hands above the device for tasks such as going to the main app grid and opening multitasking.

How much will it cost?  

Apple’s next iPhone will cost $999 when it goes on sale in September, a report has claimed.

The New York Times says Apple will keep the iPhone under $1,000 at its launch.

It says the launch will see ‘a premium model priced at around $999, according to people briefed on the product, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorised to speak publicly.’ 

‘For $999, expect to get an iPhone 8 with 64 GB storage — the new base storage capacity for the 2017 iPhone lineup. 

According to 9to5Mac, the $999 will be for the base model. 

‘Apple will then offer a 256 GB upgrade (and maybe a 512 GB model) if you want to spend more; the company typically charges $100 more for every storage increment,’ it says.

Which photo and video features will it have? 

Several details about the next iPhone were spotted in the source code for Apple’s HomePod speaker – including video and photo features.

Brazilian website iHelp BR revealed that the next iPhone will record 4K video at 60 frames per second (fps) – twice the speed of the rear camera on the iPhone 7.

Flags for ‘isBack4k60VideoSupported’ and ‘isFront4k60VideoSupported’ were found under CAMCaptureCapabilities.  

The iPhone 8 camera may introduce support for a new ‘SmartCam’ scene selection feature that would be used to intelligently capture the best photos when shooting specific scenes like fireworks and sunsets, according to one engineer

A 3D vertical dual-lens camera is also expected for the next iPhone, as shown in images leaked in June (pictured is an idea of what the device could look like) 

If this leak is correct, a faster frame rate could help augmented reality applications on the iOS 11.

Another leak in August suggested a new ‘SmartCam’ scene selection feature would be used to intelligently capture the best photos when shooting specific scenes like fireworks and sunsets, according to one engineer.

Guilherme Rambo, an engineer, found code suggesting the new photography feature in the leaked HomePod software. 

Flags for ‘isBack4k60VideoSupported’ and ‘isFront4k60VideoSupported’ were found under CAMCaptureCapabilities. This suggests the device will record 4K video at 60 fps

The code for the SmartCam suggests an array of scenes including Fireworks, Baby, Bright Stage, Document, Foliage.

It’s assumed the camera would detect objects in the scene to automatically apply the best setting – Apple already uses this type of image recognition to automatically sort photos in Memories and locate photos in Search. 

A 3D vertical dual-lens camera is also expected for the next iPhone, as shown in images leaked in June.  

What will the display look like? 

The source code for the HomePod also revealed that the iPhone is likely to have an edgeless display. 

Steve Troughton-Smith, a developer based in County Limerick, revealed that the iPhone 8 could have an edgeless display, having been tipped off about another section of the code by a developer called Guilherme Rambo. 

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

Mr Troughton-Smith tweeted an image of the outline of the new iPhone, saying: ‘But wait, there’s more: images of the new iPhone form-factor are also present. A lot of people at Apple are going to have a nasty Monday.’

Leaked images posted to Twitter by leaker Benjamin Geskin, also claim to show the iPhone’s OLED display cover.  

Mr Troughton-Smith also discovered a ‘tap to wake’ feature, that would allow users to double-tap their screen to wake their device.

Steve Troughton-Smith, a developer based in County Limerick, revealed that the iPhone 8 could have an edgeless display, having been tipped off about another section of the code by a developer called Guilherme Rambo

He tweeted: ‘It looks like the new iPhones might support ‘tap to wake’, much like Windows Phones/Lumias.’ 

What colours will it come in?  

Rumours suggest that there will be a choice of four colours for the next iPhone.

A photo of what the device could look like was revealed by a respected Apple leaker, who says that a source inside the company tipped him off.

Rumours suggest that there will be a choice of four colours for the next iPhone. A photo of what the device could look like was revealed by a respected Apple leaker, who says that a source inside the company tipped him off

Benjamin Geskin from Latvia, tweeted the rumours, saying: ‘2017 OLED iPhone – four colours. New one – mirror like.’

According to Mr Geskin, the iPhone will be available in four colours, with the other three expected to be white, black and rose gold.

Other rumours have suggested that the iPhone 8 could come in six colours, with red, gold and grey options.

How will it be charged? 

Several rumours suggest the device will feature wireless charging – but blogger John Gruber, an Apple information analyst, says that the feature might not be available when the phone is launched.

Mr Gruber also suggests that the inductive charging technology will be sold separately, and not included with the purchase of the new iPhone.