iPhone 8 Rumors: New Phone Expected To Cost Around $1,000

The upcoming Apple iPhone has widely been rumored to sport a hefty price tag and the latest piece of speculation further suggests the new smartphone will have a higher cost for buyers. According to the New York Times, the new iPhone will have a price tag of around $999.

The Times is the latest outlet that has suggested the upcoming iPhone — which will potentially be dubbed the iPhone 8 — will sport a high price tag at around the $1,000 range. The rumored price point will be a significant hike for most buyers, as the current iPhone 7 Plus starts at $769, but the phone is expected to double its base storage from 32GB to 64GB.

Apple is expected to bank on premium features to justify this price jump for consumers, as the iPhone 8 has been linked to a variety of new additions that haven’t been seen on past iPhones. Externally, the phone will sport a redesigned display that fully extends to the top and bottom of the phone’s front side.

The Times also notes that the phone will come with facial recognition for unlocking and fully wireless charging with an inductive backside, which lines up with previous rumored features. With the extended display, rumors have been mixed on whether Apple will integrate Touch ID directly into the screen, include a rear fingerprint sensor or rely solely on facial recognition for unlocking the phone.

Elsewhere, the iPhone 8 is also expected to be a prominent platform for Apple’s ambitions with augmented reality, which refers to overlaying virtual information on top of your field of vision. At its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this year, Apple unveiled its ARKit tool set for developers, who have showed a variety of tech demos utilizing the technology for features like gaming and measuring real-world spaces.

In the fall iPhone event, Apple is widely expected to launch the iPhone 8 alongside the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus. The latter two phones will likely be traditional S-series upgrades that feature lightly refreshed specifications and designs.

While the price hike isn’t the easiest pill to swallow for iPhone users who’ve been waiting for an update, it fits with an increasingly popular trend among smartphone manufacturers. As smartphone series like the iPhone lineup hit middle age among consumers, manufacturers are gambling on higher-end and more premium features to keep buyers engaged. On current phones, consumers have seen options like increasingly slimmer bodies accompanied with larger and better-quality displays.

Although major smartphone manufacturers have traditionally been reluctant to price their phones at a point that would limit mainstream buyers, Apple wouldn’t be the first manufacturer to flirt with the $1,000 price range for a smartphone. During Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 event Wednesday, it confirmed that the new phone’s price would start at $930. With more carriers offering monthly payment plans for hardware now, paying a monthly bill over dropping $1,000 or more at once reduces the initial sticker shock for buyers.