iPhone 8 tipped for September launch with a rear facing fingerprint scanner

New photos of an early iPhone 8 prototype suggests the phone may be the first Apple phone to have a rear fingerprint scanner.

Two new photos claiming to show the prototype casing of the iPhone 8 appeared on Chinese social networking site Baidu and the biggest change is the appearance of a slot that looks like a hole for a rear-facing fingerprint scanner.

Previously it was rumored Apple wanted to include the fingerprint scanner within the screen for the iPhone 8, so it's interesting Apple has now made prototypes with the Touch ID tech on the rear.

Not long now

Where exactly the photos came from is unclear though, so it may turn out these photos aren't accurate.

Another rumor has suggested the iPhone 8 is on schedule for its rumored September announcement and release date, despite recent reports of a delay for the upcoming phone.

Rod Hall, an analyst at JP Morgan, has said he believes the delay to be real but it won't have much of a material affect on sales.

He believes the rumored upgrade to an OLED screen will cause Apple to start production slower after the September announcement and only release two million units in the same month.

Then when production has ramped up, Apple will be ready to sell a lot more devices and the analyst firm will be ready to sell 42 million devices before the end of 2017.

The report does suggest the price for the next iPhone will be higher than average though with an expected cost of $1,100 up from the estimated $1,000 as production costs are higher than originally expected.