File photo: An audience member takes a photo of the Apple logo before the start of the company's annual developer conference in San Jose, California, U.S. June 5, 2017. (REUTERS/Stephen Lam)
Dow Jones is reporting that Apple will unveil its 2017 iPhone lineup at a special event scheduled for Tuesday, September 12. While Apple has yet to issue official invites for the event, the September 12th date does align with previous rumors that recently emerged over the past few days. Assuming that the September 12 date is in fact accurate, Apple in just about two weeks will introduce a brand new iPhone 7s and an iPhone 7s Plus. Of course, it goes without saying that the main attraction at Apple's upcoming event will be the highly anticipated iPhone 8, a device which may very well usher in the largest iPhone refresh Apple has ever seen.
At this point, it's no secret what the iPhone 8 will bring to the table. According to a number of credible sources, the iPhone 8 will feature a edgeless OLED display and will incorporate advanced facial recognition technology. What's interesting, though, is that the inclusion of facial recognition technology might see Apple remove Touch ID altogether. From what we can gather so far, Apple initially wanted to embed the Touch ID sensor underneath the OLED display itself, only to abandon this approach after encountering a yield issues during initial production runs.
As for other iPhone 8 features we can expect to see, Apple's next-gen device will likely incorporate a new wireless charging feature. Though Android smartphones have had wireless charging for quite some time, it's nice to see Apple finally deciding to join the party. On a related note, a recent iPhone 8 rumor claims that wireless charging on Apple's next-gen device will not be up to par with what some Android smartphone owners already enjoy. As we covered earlier, rumor has it that the iPhone 8 -- along with Apple's iPhone 7s lineup -- will only support Qi's slower wireless charging standard.
As for some other iPhone 8 tidbits worth mentioning, it's believed that the entry-level iPhone 8 will sport 64GB of storage, with more premium models offering users 256GB and 512GB of storage. Price wise, The New York Times recently published a report indicating that the entry-level iPhone 8 will start at $999, easily making it the most expensive iPhone model ever released.
Lastly, we've also seen rumors claiming that pre-orders for the iPhone 8 will open up on Friday, September 15 ahead of a worldwide launch on Friday, September 22, two dates which fit in nicely with the aforementioned September 12th unveiling.
New iPhones aside, Apple on September 12 will also unveil a revamped version of the Apple Watch along with a brand new 4K capable Apple TV.
Update: The Wall Street Journal also has a report corroborating the September 12th date, adding that the event will be held in the 1,000-seat Steve Jobs Theater located at the company's new spaceship campus.
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