The iPhone 8 has been one of Apple’s most poorly kept secrets. But despite the best efforts of analysts, data miners, and others, it has managed to maintain some mystery. Unfortunately, Apple biggest leak comes from Apple itself.
According to the Verge, Apple pushed live an update to its HomePod by mistake, and developers jumped on it to find the goodies. There were two really big bits of data. One, it looks like all those rumors about the screen have been confirmed by Apple itself:
Me too. New bezel-less form factor as well pic.twitter.com/Y0RrSOk2OO
— Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) July 31, 2017
That’s fairly interesting on its own, and the firmest confirmation we’ve gotten that Apple is trying to give the iPhone 8 a unique design compared to the rest of the line. But even more interesting is that in the code there are multiple references to face recognition tools, including to an infrared camera that could be used to recognize your mug in low-light conditions.
If you’re not familiar with infrared, think Predator. In biometrics, it’s useful for spotting the unique network of blood vessels in the face. That’s caught attention not least because of rumors Apple’s had trouble integrating TouchID into the iPhone 8’s edge-to-edge screen. Rumor has said that the sensor would either be placed on the back or just cut altogether as Apple works on the technology. It would also be a fairly neat feature to send selfies with, and app developers are no doubt hoping to be unleashed on the feature. We’ll see what Apple has coming as September approaches.
(via The Verge)