Samsung Galaxy S8, S8 Plus, Apple iPhone 8 To Have Similar $1,000 Pricing: Reports

The iPhone 8 and Samsung Galaxy S8 are expected to be large-scale updates over their predecessors in terms of both hardware and software features. There have been multiple rumors about the devices describing their features and specs, but perhaps the single-largest factor many prospective consumers look at while considering a device is its pricing.

It seems both devices will need consumers to lighten their pockets considerably, likely to cost around $1,000. While the iPhone 8 pricing leak came Feb. 8, Erazmus UA tweeted Friday an unnamed Ukrainian reseller’s listing that showed the Samsung Galaxy S8 priced at 25,999 Ukrainian hryvnia ($963) and the Galaxy S8 Plus at 28,999 Ukrainian hryvnia ($1,074). The tweet has since been removed by the user.

The listing showed "M64" next to the model number of the devices, which could possibly refer to the onboard memory of the devices, meaning the prices might be for 64GB version of the devices, which is expected to be the lowest memory variant. The 32GB version available on the current generation of the device, might be phased out with the Galaxy S8.

Simply put, the starting price of an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S8 could be close to $1,000.

In addition to this, the listing also showed that the devices would be available in not just the regular black and gold versions, but also in a new Orchid Gray color.

What might make the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Apple iPhone 8 command such premium pricing could be the fact that both phones are expected to be massive updates over their predecessors. The biggest hardware update that both phones are expected to come with is edge-to-edge displays, which will obliterate the traditional home buttons present in the previous generations of both phones. The displays of both the devices are expected to cover the whole front of the device and have a fingerprint sensor, front-facing speaker and front camera underneath the display. Interestingly, Samsung might be manufacturing the edge-to-edge OLEDs for both the devices.

They are also expected to come with artificial intelligence based voice assistants — while the iPhone 8 is expected to come with an improved version of Siri, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is expected to come with the company’s Bixby voice assistant which will replace its existing S-Voice function.

To support such features, the devices will need to have a good amount of processing power. Apple and Samsung are expected to go for 10nm processors rather than existing 14nm processors for the upcoming phones. The new processors are expected to offer performance and battery improvements to the devices.

While Samsung Galaxy S8 is expected to launch in the last week of March or at the most, in the first week of April, the iPhone is expected to launch later in the year, possibly in September or October.