To put it bluntly: If you need a new phone because yours has become too slow for your day-to-day use, it's time to upgrade. Just get the iPhone that's right for you — the iPhone SE, the 6S, the 7, the 8, or the X. Don't worry about next year's iPhones.
If you can wait, though, a few rumors have already popped up about what Apple has in store for 2018.
The rumors so far mostly center on the next-generation iPhone displays, which could tell us that a design overhaul is imminent, at least for the successors to the now "midrange" iPhone 8.
So far, however, there's no indication about the phones' nomenclature. It's still very unclear whether they'll be called iPhone 8S or iPhone 9. We'll just call them the "2018 iPhones" for now.
It's important to note that these rumors are very early, and there's plenty of time for Apple to make changes until it announces its new iPhones in September — and that's only if these rumors are even true in the first place. Take everything here with a grain of salt.
Check out what the 2018 iPhone rumor mill has in store so far:
The successors to the iPhone 8 will have nearly bezel-less front panels.
Apple's next midrange iPhones could have a bezel-less front similar to the iPhone X, according to The Wall Street Journal.Specifically, Apple is supposedly looking into an advanced type of LCD display called "Full Active LCD," made by Japan Display. You can get an idea of what Full Active LCDs look like by checking out the Essential Phone (below) and the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2.
One thing to note about phones that use Full Active LCDs is that, unlike phones with OLED displays like the iPhone X, they all have at least one larger bezel, usually on the bottom.
This type of LCD display would be less expensive and most likely run into fewer supply issues than the OLED display used in the iPhone X — two factors that surely contribute to the iPhone X's higher cost. (The iPhone 8 starts at $699, the iPhone 8 Plus starts at $799, and the iPhone X starts at $999.)
One of the 2018 iPhones will have a large screen measuring over 6 inches.
Apple has made orders from Japan Display for an LCD display panel that's over 6 inches, according to The Korea Herald.Since the display order is apparently for LCD panels, it doesn't seem likely to be for a successor to Apple's iPhone X, which has an OLED panel, but for a successor to the iPhone 8 Plus.
If the 2018 iPhones do have nearly bezel-less displays, that could mean the end of the iPhone 6-era hardware design.
This is purely our speculation based on the rumor that Apple will use Full Active LCD displays, one of which is reported to be larger than the iPhone 8 Plus' 5.5-inch display.The 2018 iPhones will most likely look different, if not redesigned, if Apple uses Full Active LCDs and nearly bezel-less front panels.
For one, the 2018 iPhones wouldn't have bezels as large as those on the iPhone 8, which has essentially the same design as 2014's iPhone 6.
There will be a larger successor to the iPhone X in 2018.
Apple apparently sent orders to Samsung Display, the iPhone X's OLED display manufacturer, for 5.28-, 5.85-, and 6.46-inch OLED displays, but the one for the smallest display has been canceled, according to ET News.The rumor suggests that Apple may be adding a larger 6.46-inch successor to the iPhone X to its lineup next year. The iPhone X, coming in November, will have a 5.8-inch OLED display.
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