Apple’s next-generation iPhone 8 is slated to debut this coming September, and it should be released either later that month or sometime soon after. But new flagship iPhones always launch in September, right? While that has been true ever since Apple shifted its release from the early summer to the late summer, recent reports suggest that Apple and its manufacturing partners are having trouble with a key piece of technology expected to debut in Apple’s tenth-anniversary smartphone
According to those reports, Apple was faced with two options: either delay the launch or ditch the tech. And now, perhaps for the first time ever, loyal Apple fans are praying that the company’s hotly anticipated new iPhone is delayed.
Why is everyone hoping for a delay? The answer to that question lies in a leak that we showed you on Wednesday. As you’ll undoubtedly recall, a source with a mixed track record shared a leaked schematic drawing he claimed shows the iPhone 8’s rear housing design. Here’s the image in question:
The image shows a phone that looks like a flattened iPhone 5, but an extra hole can clearly be seen beneath the Apple logo. That hole, according to rumors, could be the relocated Touch ID fingerprint scanner. Apple has been working for years to embed its Touch ID sensor beneath the iPhone’s display, and the iPhone 8 was expected to be the first iPhone to feature the new tech. Apple is said to be having problems getting its new embedded scanner to a point where it can be mass-produced, however, so reports have suggested that the company is toying with relocating the scanner to the back of the phone.
As we mentioned in our earlier coverage, there’s a good chance that this is fake. If it’s real, it also might just be one of several designs Apple was experimenting with. We sincerely hope one of those two scenarios ends up being accurate, because this design is absolutely awful. We explained why in yesterday’s post, and it looks like even hardcore Apple fans agree that this iPhone design would be terrible.
Just about every single reaction we’ve seen to this leak has been negative. If you’re looking for one spot to check out the general consensus, this Reddit thread should suffice. The Apple subreddit is full of people who love Apple and just about any product it releases, but the idea of an iPhone 8 with a Touch ID scanner on the back is universally hated.
Most of the thread is just people commenting on how awful this design would be, in general. But one user made a very important point. “Just try holding your iPhone now and reaching your index finger that far below the Apple logo,” he or she wrote. “If this is true, it is a disastrous placement of touch ID, even worse than the [Galaxy S8] in my opinion.”
This is a fantastic point, and it’s probably the best indication that this leak is fake. As we noted in our Galaxy S8 review, Samsung’s fingerprint scanner placement on its new flagship phones is awful. The placement on the iPhone 8 pictured above is even worse, however. The idea of having to fumble with your phone to hit a fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone that’s positioned more than halfway down the phone might actually be nauseating.
The odds are fairly good that actual iPhone 8 components will begin leaking very soon, and our fingers are crossed that these schematics will quickly be debunked.
