The iPhone 8’s rear design 'not finalized', tip suppliers, release may slip to November

An insider from a key Korean supplier said today that:"the iPhone’s rear design has not yet been finalized. We are still awaiting Apple’s final decision before shipping parts," The issue is that, since the in-display tech is difficult to implement in scale (Samsung learned that all too well with the S8, forcing it to place the scanner on the back), Apple has to quickly decide whether to implement a more orthodox Touch ID scanner at the rear of the phone as a back up to the Face ID tech, or go just with the face-scanning altogether.

Apple is apparently biding its time, trying to take the best decision for the iPhone 8, but that reflects on suppliers as well. "Apple’s top brass recently approved the September launch of two LCD models, but the OLED iPhone launch is likely to be delayed to November,” tipped the source. Because of Apple's musings, Samsung has so far deivered only a limited number of the contracted OLED panels for the iPhone 8. "The fact that Samsung’s manufacturing lines are not running at full capacity at the moment hints at the delay of the OLED iPhone launch," chimed in another industry source. 

Oh, well, we hope that Apple clears it up, but if the in-display finger scanning is too immature to be employed en masse, and Face ID has yet to prove itself, something tells us that Apple may decide to place a more orthodox rear Touch ID on the iPhone 8, after all, as some leaked cases and dummies are suggesting. The team from Cupertino obviously has plenty of prototypes and backup plans in place, so, come September, we are fairly certain we will see three iPhones announced, whether or not one will launch a bit later than the others.

source: Korea Herald