Apple iPhone day 2017: What's 'Cook'ing?

Apple’s much anticipated iPhone 8 launch is just four days away and there are a lot of expectations from the Cupertino giant this time. One of the reasons for this hype is that this is the 10th anniversary edition of the iPhone, making it much more special.

The iPhone 8 will be announced at 1PM ET / 10:30PM IST on Tuesday, September 12 at the Steve Jobs Theatre, a fitting place to announce the special 10th anniversary edition.

When there is so much anticipation and hype over a device, rumours and leaks are quite normal. In this post, we are going to quickly go over all the rumours, leaks and expectations from the Apple iPhone day 2017.

Three new iPhones expected

Apart from the iPhone 8 which will be the premium, the company is also expected to announce the iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus. So far, we expect the iPhone 8 to come with an OLED display along with a TouchID sensor integrated inside the display. If this turns out to be true, the iPhone 8 may come without a capacitive home button.

As reported by various sources, Apple will launch three devices, the premium device will come with an OLED panel and the other two will come with LCD displays of 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch. There is still no confirmation whether the device with the OLED display is the iPhone 8 or the iPhone X and this is something that will be revealed on the launch day.

While some rumours claim of a TouchId sensor integrated inside the display, there are other reports that indicate that the company may replace the TouchID sensor with a facial or iris recognition technology. Some rumours have indicated that Apple may skip the iPhone 8 and launch the iPhone X, to celebrate the 10th anniversary edition of the iPhone.

Some leaked schematics have revealed that the company may ditch horizontal alignment of the dual camera setup and go for vertical alignment, with the LED flash being placed between the two sensors.

Coming to the pricing of the devices, the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus may be priced around $649 and $769 respectively. Additionally, the iPhone 8 may be priced above $1,000, way above the pricing of the iPhones currently available in the market.

Homepod

Apart from the iPhone trio, Apple is also expected to reveal more about the HomePod that was announced during the WWDC 2017. While the WWDC 2017’s announcement revealed the HomePod’s audio performance, the company is expected to announce more details about how the HomePod works in sync with Siri.

To recall, the HomePod is a smart speaker from Apple that competes against Google Home and Amazon Echo. To start the speaker, you need to say the wake phrase “Hey Siri” and then ask it to perform various activities like play music, check weather and traffic among other things. The HomePod will go on sale in US, UK and Australia from December this year for $349.

Apple Watch

Apple is also expected to announce some new variations of its smartwatches. With each new iteration, the Cupertino giant adds some new features to the Apple Watch. This time, reports suggest that the new watch will come with 4G LTE support, allowing it to work even when your iPhone isn’t nearby.

The new Apple Watch 3 rumors are trickling out for the Apple Watch 3, but we're still not seeing anything concrete that the device will appear alongside the iPhone 8... however, there's a really good chance that an all-new Watch would gain a huge halo alongside this massive phone reboot Apple is planning.

Apple TV with 4K support

The new Apple TV is expected to ditch the full HD resolution and move towards ultra-high def 4K resolution. Apple recently allocated over $1 billion for production and acquisition of original content over the next one year.

If Apple launches a 4K supported Apple TV, it will pave the way for 4K content on the iTunes store. This will enable users with 4K TVs to enjoy ultra-high def content. However, this may not be relevant to those who do not have a 4K TV.

Nothing has been confirmed with regards to this and it would require a great deal of negotiation on Apple’s part to establish a bundle that would offer a competitive enough price to lure consumers in. However, it would be a creative solution to the fact that Apple currently only offers individual channels and apps.

iOS 11

iOS 11 has been in beta for a long time now and we may finally get to know about its official availability on September 12. iOS 11 comes with improved Live images, better compression, revamped iMessage, better notifications and more. The major addition will be the integration with ARKit, Apple’s augmented reality platform. ARKit will provide developers an easy way to develop AR apps without any hardware requirements.

Not just iPhone users, but iPad users will be benefited from iOS 11 features such as an expanded dock, new app switcher, drag and drop and Apple pencil support.

Apple 4K TV: what will we see from the 5th gen Apple TV?

Airpods

While there hasn’t been much talk about a new iteration of the Airpods, Apple recently patented earbuds with biometric sensors built into them. This could mean that the company is working on Airpods that will provide users with improved health and fitness tracking.

It would be interesting to see how Apple reiterates the new wireless earphones as it saw mixed reviews from users around the world. We hope Apple fixes the issues put up last year and comes with a more complete and logical piece of technology.