There has been a buzz for some time regarding Apple's next flagship smartphone, the iPhone 8, which is also dubbed the iPhone X. Recent rumors have indicated that the device would support wireless charging. Now, a renowned analyst - Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities - has revealed yet another supposed detail about the upcoming device. In a note to investors, which has been obtained by publication AppleInsider, he shared that the iPhone 8 will house a "function" area on the screen. The function area is basically composed of virtual buttons and will replace the home button, which is present in previous-gen iPhones. The note from the analyst details that due to the device's bezel-less design, Apple has decided to incorporate the "function" space on the screen which it was unable to do before. Kuo also states that the display will be 5.8 inches as expected by many, out of which 5.15 inches of the screen will be usable while the remaining portion will be taken up by the virtual buttons. The absence of bezels also likely means that the device will ditch the fingerprint scanner present in previous iPhones. Kuo did not state specifically what form of biometric security will be housed in the device in its place. However, reports have indicated that the iPhone 8 will feature an iris scanner. Kuo in a note some time ago had also mentioned that the device may come with a dual biometric system, which could perhaps mean that some form of facial recognition software may also be present in the iPhone 8 at launch. The analyst also revealed that battery wise, the iPhone 8 will be similar to the iPhone 7 Plus which had a 5.5 inch display. Apple may still include the fingerprint scanner, which may be embedded in the device's display instead. The price of the latest iPhone will be hiked from previous versions per Kuo. He estimated in his note that the iPhone 8 will launch with a price tag of $1,000. Rumors of the iPhone 8 sporting a $1000 price tag have previously surfaced online. The exact release date has not been revealed but reports suggest that the company has already ramped up productions of the device due to high estimate of sales. Apple would most likely launch the iPhone 8 during the latter part of 2017, sticking to its annual release cycle. At launch, the company will ship around 100 million units of the device according to Kuo. With all these reports, one thing is quite clear. The new device will house some state of the art innovations which previous iPhones never had. It remains to be seen whether all these changes in design and specs would satisfy the consumers or not
