Paul Morris on July 3, 2017, 10:12 pm

KGI: iPhone 8 To Feature Highest Screen-To-Body Ratio Of Any Device, No In-Screen Touch ID

Ming-Chi Kuo has issued yet another important research note to investors, this time outlining what he believes will be Apple’s plans for the 2017 iPhone lineup.

As expected, in the opinion of Kuo, that lineup includes an iteration of the current iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, resulting in the likely release of iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus, as well as a new OLED-based iPhone 8 to celebrate ten years of iPhone. This latest KGI research note appears to be a confirmation of multiple different rumors which have been circulating regarding iPhone 8 in recent months.

That includes a prediction that the iPhone 8 will contain the highest screen-to-body ratio of any device on the market, as well as confirmation that it will indeed ship with a virtual Home button rather than the mechanical implementation that we’ve become accustomed to over the years. What’s particularly interesting is that Kuo also predicts that Apple will not be embedding the Touch ID sensor into that virtual Home button within the display this year.

It’s extremely interesting to hear this prediction, and equally as frustrating that the latest KGI research note offers no counterargument as to where the Touch ID sensor would be located. In fact, the report doesn’t actually confirm that the iPhone 8 will have Touch ID at all. It does, however, suggest that the forward-facing camera on the high-end device will support 3D depth sensing, which would allow facial recognition and bring a whole new identity and power to those who love taking cutting-edge, advanced selfies. Kuo also predicts that iPhone 8 will come with improved speaker performance, allowing for a more balanced and consistent audio output.

For those who might be interested in the cheaper hardware, Kup predicts two new LCD-based devices with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays. The underlying chassis will be similar to that of the iPhone 4 with a glass and metal frame combo, but the front of the devices will look very similar to what we already have on the market with iPhone 7. The iPhone 8’s chassis however will be stainless steel on the back, with the inclusion of glass on the front as expected.

All three devices will be offered in 64GB and 256GB options, and will also support fast charging with the inclusion of a USB-C power delivery circuit. An announcement is expected on all three counts sometime during the coming month of September.

We’re not exactly sure of a release date as yet, but KGI does believe that Apple could announce all three devices at one event, but not have any physical stock of the OLED iPhone 8 until after the release of the LCD models.

(Top image: iPhone 8 concept with iOS 11)