Apple iPhone 8: Here’s five big changes we 'know' are coming

This year’s iPhone is the most eagerly anticipated in years – it comes ten years after Steve Jobs stepped on a stage and promised a product that would ‘change everything’.

Since then, Apple has sold more than a billion iPhones – and rumours suggest that it’s planning to cap the decade with a ‘reinvention’ of its best-selling product.

Details of Apple products tend to leak during the months in the run-up to release, often in the form of prototypes from the Chinese factories which make them.

MORE: Husband told wife impaled by falling tree: ‘I won’t let you die’

MORE: Baby died after Christian parents refused treatment in favour of ‘faith healing’
With iPhone 8 predicted to launch in September, the leaks have started to come thick and fast – so what do we know so far?

Or at least, what do we THINK we know?

A ‘3D selfie’ camera

Apple supplier Largan Precision said that it has 3D-sensing lenses ‘ready to ship’ – and Nikkei Asian Review suggests the buyer is Apple.

Analysts suggested earlier this year that the phone would have a ‘revolutionary’ front-facing camera.

This ‘3D’ sensor could be used to add people’s faces into apps or games, or for facial recognition.

Trusted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities – behind many previous accurate Apple leaks – says that the device will have a depth-sensing infrared module on the front.

Wireless charging

Rivals such as Samsung already offer wireless charging – with phones topping up simply by being placed on a compatible charging pad.

Hints from within Apple’s supply chain suggest that the Californian firm could be about to follow suit – and rumours about a glass back on the new iPhone chime with this.

Apple supplier Wistron dropped a massive hint when an exec said, ‘new features like waterproof and wireless charging now require some different testing,’ according to Nikkei Asian Review.

No Home button

The world is still reeling from Apple’s decision to snip the headphone port off iPhone 7 – but a bigger change could be incoming.

An alleged early ‘dummy’ model of the new phone, posted online by a Latvian leaker shows no Home button.

The move would make sense, as rivals Google and Samsung’s flagship models no longer have physical buttons on the front.

On Google’s Pixel, the fingerprint sensor is actually on the back, so users can use the screen with their thumb.

A new ‘all screen’ look

Samsung – Apple’s closest rival – launched its flagship Galaxy S8 this summer with the slogan, ‘Unbox your phone’ – referring to the ‘box’ at the edges of the screen.

Leaked iPhone 8 panels allegedly circulated to Chinese manufacturers show an edge-to-edge display similar to Samsung’s models.

The screen is also widely expected to be curved at the edges, like on Samsung’s flagship S8 handset, according to previous analyst reports.

‘Apple has ordered 70 million units of OLED panels from Samsung this year, while Samsung is preparing to churn out as many as 95 million for Apple in 2017, in case demand exceeds expectations,’ David Hsieh of HSI Markit.

Incredible new price

No one knows how many models Apple will release this year – with some suggesting that there will be an iPhone 7S, 7S Plus and an iPhone 8.

Other suggested names for the top-end model include iPhone Pro, or iPhone X or iPhone 10.

What’s looking increasingly certain is that the top-of-the-line model is going to really cost you – with American analysts predicting it could cost more than $1,000.

Here in the UK, that could mean that people who opt for the top-of-the-line model – and a big memory option – could be saddled with a bill alarmingly close to £1,000.