It's the year of the iPhone. Apple is expected to unveil the most radical, most different, and most groundbreaking iPhone yet on Sept. 12. For those who want to watch the event live, here are a few things to keep in mind.
The much-anticipated reveal will be the first event held in the Steve Jobs Theater inside Apple's newly minted spaceship campus in Cupertino, California. In a way, the launch is special because it's been 10 years since the original iPhone was unveiled. Nothing in the smartphone landscape has been the same.
At the time, Steve Jobs said the iPhone was five years ahead of any other phone. It's scary how that statement was true after all. Apple reinvented the phone, sure, but it did something much more important — it redefined our relationship with the phone. From a largely costly accessory, phones are now a necessity.
Even small details, such as pinching to zoom and rotating the phone to see a photo in landscape mode, are now typical things that are almost standard on any phone. Back then, those were unheard of.
However, the iPhone has gotten stale in recent years. The iPhone 6 perhaps marked the biggest change in size and design, but it wasn't as exciting as previous iterations. It had a larger screen, sure, and 3D touch, but beyond those, it was just another iPhone. The iPhone 7 followed the same path, featuring minor internal spec bumps and dual cameras for the larger version, but not much else.
The iPhone 8 is about to change all that.
How To Livestream The iPhone 8 Event
The keynote starts at 10:00 a.m. PDT or 1:00 p.m. ET, and Apple has made it available to watch through its website. To view the keynote, users must have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running Safari on iOS 7 or later, or a Mac with recent Safari and OS X or macOS updates, as Time notes.
PC users, meanwhile, can watch via Microsoft Edge, provided they're running Windows 10. Those who have an Apple TV can also livestream the event, provided the set-top box is running software version 6.2 or up.
What To Expect
Apple is expected to unveil a third iteration of Apple Watch and a 4K and HDR-capable Apple TV. There are also rumored iterative upgrades for the iPhone 7, the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus.
But of course, the main star of the show is the iPhone 8, or whatever it ends up being called. Here's a list of the most talked about rumors so far:
• The most radical iPhone design yet: The new iPhone will be a massive departure from previous iPhone designs, reports claim.
• OLED bezel-less display: It is believed this is the first ever iPhone to feature an OLED bezel-less display. Because there'll be very little space left, the design will reportedly include a wide notch at the top that breaks the flow of the screen to include several front-facing sensors.
• Touch ID to be replaced with Face ID: Apple is retiring Touch ID in place of a face recognition technology called Face ID. This can reportedly be used to authenticate payments via Apple Pay in combination with double-clicking the power button.
Authenticating with FaceID looks like this (timing not correct because it's just the UI, not actual auth) pic.twitter.com/kvNUARDQBJ
— Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) September 9, 2017
• Wireless charging: This is the first time Apple will reportedly integrate wireless charging into the iPhone. This essentially confirms the device will have a glass back panel, since that's one requirement of wireless charging systems.
• No home button at all: Because there will be minimal bezels, Apple reportedly had to do away with the iconic Home button. It will be replaced with a virtual bar on the bottom part of the screen that works with different gestures.
• More functional power button: The power button will include more commands, reports say. Double-clicking will activate Apple Pay, while holding it down will invoke Siri. Both seem like compromises due to the lack of a home button.
• Front-facing 3D sensors: Face ID isn't just for making payments, it's also for unlocking the phone as well. As such, there will be advanced 3D facial recognition sensors on the front to enable such a method, but it also paves the way for animated emojis called "animojis," which reportedly will be rendered based on the user's expressions.
