Ming-Chi Kuo, the trusted KGI securities analyst, in his latest note to investors, claims that Apple will be giving a major redesign to its iPhone model due in 2017. In his recent note to investors, Kuo notes that Apple will be replacing its current aluminum shell in favor of an all-glass body for the 2017 model of the iPhone. He also adds that the current IPS LCD display tech will also be replaced with an AMOLED screen.
It was only the iPhone 4 and iPhoen 4s devices that Apple launched with a chassis made up of glass. With the first all-glass iPhone 4, the fruit company was hit with the antenna-gate scandal big time and company was forced relocate the antenna lines in the 4S in order to address the issue.
A previous report also made such claim that Apple will be launching an all new 5.8-inch iPhone model with AMOLED display and an all-glass body. So, today’s report from Kuo only adds further weight to that previous report. Apple has reportedly already signed a $2.6 billion deal with Samsung display to supply 5.5-inch OLED display panels in the beginning of 2017.
An iPhone made-up of an all-glass body will surely help the company in differentiating its flagship smartphone from other players in the market who are aggressively adopting an all aluminum design for their devices. However, there’s one big downside of such design i.e. durability because a glass may easily break due to a fall. It’ll be interested to see how Apple handles the durability of its rumored all-glass 2017 iPhone model.
Historically, Apple is known for releasing a major design overhaul with every jump in version number (iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, iPhone 5, iPhone 6), but if rumors are to be believed, it seems like this year’s iPhone 7 will only be a minor upgrade over iPhone 6s with other hardware improvements. Rumors so far claim that the upcoming iPhone 7 will be more of an ‘s’ upgrade with a waterproof design, and lack of antenna lines at the rear of the device among the prominent features. If this is really what Apple has planned for this year, this certainly won’t help Apple in reviving its diminishing sales figure of iPhones across the globe.
via [9to5mac]