What if the iPhone 8 isn’t a phone?

What if the iPhone 8 isn’t a phone at all? What if all the leaks (more than usual?) are just to distract reporters from the real innovation — an AR/VR headset to replace smartphones altogether?

I had a lunch conversation with Nevyn Bengtsson the other day, and he lauded Apple’s strategy in releasing ARKit (Apple’s framework for augmented reality) for iPhone early, so developers have time to develop great apps before releasing any dedicated AR hardware. As proof that this strategy is working, check out MadeWithARKit.com for great examples, or this ARKit version of A-ha’s “Take On Me”.

A successor to the smartphone is due, as new phones become less and less revolutionary. Tim Cook must feel this pressure, too. And Apple is certainly working on AR hardware, as patent applications can reveal.

2007: iPhone. 2017: What?

This year is a decade since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007. What if Apple has planned this anniversary to launch the next generation of devices? This is how I’d like the reveal event to go down (inspired by the iPhone introduction speech, of course):

“Today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products.

The first one: is a high-fidelity headset for video and audio.
The second: is a next generation gaming device for VR and AR.
And the third is a breakthrough communications device.

But these are not three separate devices, this is one device, and we are calling it iGlass.”