Paul Morris·

5.8-Inch Bezel-Less iPhone 8 To Feature ‘Function Area’ In Place Of Touch ID In A 4.7-Inch Body

Another day is upon us, and yet another iPhone 8 rumor has fell into our laps. Once again, KGI Securities analysts Ming-Cho Kuo has released a research note reiterating that that Apple’s flagship 2017 iPhone 8 model will ship with a 5.8-inch OLED display, but with a catch to it.

According to Kuo, the 5.8-inch display will provide 5.15-inches of usable screen, which was previously rumored to be around the 5.1-inch to 5.2-inch mark. The reason, as some of you may have already guessed, is that some space on the bottom of the panel dubbed the ‘function area’ will be reserved for the integration biometrics and other virtual buttons.

There’s been plenty of previous discussion about Apple’s preferred move across to using OLED display technology for the future of the iPhone range. It’s almost a given that this will happen considering how many different analysts and sources agree on that move.

It’s also been heavily speculated that the OLED panel will cover up the whole front of the iPhone, being embedded in a bezel-free structure, and offer a stunning edge-to-edge glass experience. That type of design could also push Apple to re-invent the Home / Touch ID button – possibly under the display and kept in the same location considering that a portion at the bottom of the 5.8-inch display will be reserved for such integration.

Interestingly enough, Kuo believes that this iPhone 8 model will ship with a physical size similar to that of the current 4.7-inch iPhone 7, but have 5.15-inch of usable screen space. This is due to the fact that the device will do away with the existing bezels around the outer edge of the display, therefore leaving more room on the hardware for a larger panel with a lot more usable screen space.

As mentioned earlier, the rest of the display will be taken up by ‘function area’ (like MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar?) which would presumably be in place to replicate the functionality of the Home / Touch ID and other software-based buttons.

Keeping in line with previous speculation, Kuo still believes that Apple will only ship one OLED iPhone model in the 2017 range, complemented by the standard 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch LCD-based iPhone models, which will of course be cheaper than the so-called flagship.

There’s also the hint at Apple putting a lot of effort into the redesign of this OLED-based iPhone 8 model, which is rumored to cost upwards of $1,000. Kuo has referenced the OLED device as the”brightspot” in this year’s iPhone range which leads us to believe that the regular 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models may not benefit from some serious changes.

(Top image: iPhone concept by Martin Hajek)

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