Next year will be the tenth of the anniversary of the iPhone and Apple is expected to release a redesign for the iPhone 8. And while this alone is enough to get the public into a frenzy, the tech giant does have more exciting products up its sleeve. Fortunately, everything seems to be aligned for the Cupertino player to make a grand comeback.
Without a doubt, the entire tech world is all ears and eyes for any news regarding the iPhone 8 - and for good reason. Apple is reportedly giving its handheld a facelift and introducing an entirely new redesign. As IBTimes notes, an edge-to-edge aesthetic is the most popular opinion at this point. The entire design is expected to be housed in a glass casing.
Furthermore, the iPhone 8 is expected to come without a physical home button. Apple forayed into this technology with the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus, but the anniversary iPhone will reportedly not even have the image of one. Instead, the home button will be found underneath the display.
The display, meanwhile, is expected to be an OLED upgrade. Thus far, Apple has kept it pretty standard with its LCD screens, but the iPhone 8 will apparently have a more power efficient and sharper display. The unit is also said to be powered by the A11 processor with 10nm technology. Iris scanning and wireless charging have also been thrown into the mix.
The publication goes on to say that Apple will continue to explore augmented reality, which already began with the inclusion of "Pokemon Go" on the Apple Watch. The company's CEO, Tim Cook, has been quite vocal about the interest on AR. Unlike other tech players that have dove into virtual reality, the Cupertino giant is expected to continue developing augmented reality instead.
In addition to this, Apple might also alter a few things in the iMac and the current MacBook. The changes focus on the inclusion of a USB Type-C port and an improved graphics chip. New generations of the iPad and iPad Pro will also likely be released, most likely to sit comfortably between the existing 9.7 inch and 12.9-inch models.
The Street Real Money reports that Apple will be a great investment in 2017 because of the above reasons. However, it also includes that the company might experience a great year because of president-elect Donald Trump. According to the publication, Trump's presidency might help in the company's earnings growth.
Apple has over US$230 billion in cash overseas, which is more than any other US company has. And while the Cupertino giant is not expected to bring all of this back to US shores, it will be interesting to see what they will do. Trump's tax holiday is coming, after all, and the company is expected to take advantage.
How Apple will take advantage of this is still unclear, but the publication notes that it could revive its buyback program, hike up its dividend or purchase Netflix. Whatever Tim Cook and his team decided to do, it will definitely increase the appeal of Apple's stocks. Arguably more important, however, is that it will help alleviate the negative risk from previous quarters.
