It may be seem like the conveniences of our smart phones have always been in our lives, but 2017 will actually mark the 10th anniversary of the release of the first iPhone. Apple has been planning this anniversary for some years, and to celebrate this landmark occasion they will be releasing what some have speculated as a wholly new iPhone X (or iPhone 8) this September.

There’s been a number of rumours floating around the web about what features will be added, and what designs will be removed from this new iPhone, but what most people can agree on is that the new smart phone is going to be a chunk of change pricier than previous models. With the iPhone 7 Plus 256GB version already costing just under $1,000USD (or $1,309 CAD), it wouldn’t be unreasonable for the iPhone X to cost well over that. Particularly when you consider that one of the rumours that seems to be more or less confirmed by Apple is that they intend to have the LCD screen replaced with an OLED display – which is nearly double the price of the latter. We expect the price to be around $1,500 CAD based on current rumours. An OLED display eliminates the need for the backlighting that’s used in traditional LCDs, which would allow Apple to cut down on the thickness and weight of the display used in the device. OLED displays can also be flexible, but it sounds like Apple is planning to use a flat 2.5D display in the iPhone X/8.

Apple has yet to confirm any of these rumours, but some tech experts who have an ear of the designers in the Asia supply chain have been able to speculate about what we can expect for the company’s newest model.

Design

One of the biggest shifts that has been widely discussed about the iPhone X/ iPhone 8 is whether or not the aluminum body that was introduced in 2012 will remain. Most tech sites seem to think that the new models – most agree there will be three – will go back to the glass backed bodies that were used on the iPhone 4.

The top tier model, the one that will certainly use an OLED display rather than an LCD screen, will utilize the glass body and will probably measure around 5.8″, while the other two models will be in the range of 4.7″ and 5.5″.

There has also been suggestions that there will be no home screen on the new iPhone and the front screen will resemble a clean sheet of glass. The front facing camera and home screen will instead be designed into the front screen, with the home button relying on touch ID technology.

Lightning Port?

For some time, there were people putting a lot of weight behind the Wall Street Journal’s article about Apple replacing the lightning port with a USB-C port (like the ones found on MacBooks and MacBook Pros), but the same expert who has close contact with the Asian supply chain has corrected this rumour and cleared up that the new iPhone X/8 will continue to use the lightning port.

Features

Other major changes and introductions that are rumoured to be rolled out on the new iPhone 8 that will surely have people rushing out the door and standing in line for an unreasonable amount of time include:

• longer battery life
• 3D sensing capabilities (perhaps enabling facial or iris recognition)
• front-facing camera, uses PrimeSense technology to enable 3D sensing capabilities
• rear-camera, dual-lense camera
• water resistance, withstand 1.5 metres of water for 30 minutes
• 3GB RAM
• increased storage
• A11 chip processor
• enhanced taptic engine

We’ll keep you updated with the latest leaks and rumours as they are either confirmed or denied leading up to the release of the new iPhone.