Apple iPhone 8 Rumors: Next iPhone Will Have Dedicated Audio Jack Thanks to Wireless Charging

By Erik Pineda
iPhone 8 concept image
The image here is more of a doctored one than an actual iPhone 8 leak, so take it with a grain of salt. iPhone8Look

What iPhone 7 users miss the most about the handset? Is it the real sensation of pressing a physical home button or the 3.5mm audio jack, which the current iOS flagship sorely lacks? Reports said the iPhone 8 will be able to exclusively accommodate a headphone jack but not the way it used to be.

To be clear, there is no turning back for Apple and that means the 3.5mm audio port last seen with the iPhone 6S in 2015 will not be resurrected. For the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 7S series, music lovers will be able to plug in their favorite listening accessories provided the connector fits with a Lightning port. Or they can use the dongle that was bundled with the iPhone 7 if the headphone wire ends with a 3.5mm jack.

Supposedly, enjoying music with the next iPhone will become uninterrupted. BGR said in a report iPhone users can plug in their headphone on the device and even charge the device at the same time. That's because all three iPhone 2017 models are nearly confirmed to include wireless charging right out of the box.

The latest indicators of this convenient feature upgrade were the leaked CAD files that reportedly confirmed wireless charging as among the feature upgrades for the next iPhone. Engadget generated a number of iPhone renders based on the shared files and the images and specification led to the same conclusion.

For one, the renders hinted "a carved out area for a wireless charging coil on the underside of the chassis," which indicated that wireless charging is indeed part of the next iPhone engineering.

And the devices are thought to have a back panel that is covered with glass, another design clue that points to wireless charging feature for the all the iPhone 2017 upgrades. "The back of the device will actually be covered in glass this time, which allows for the integration of wireless charging," Engadget reported.

But if the same renders are to be believed, it would mean that by gaining wireless charging the iPhone 8 specifically will not be an all-screen handset after all. One of the images shared by the same report showed the device with a Home button on the front panel, indicating the chin part of the handset will host the control key and not the lower portion of the all-screen display.

In any case, "there's always a possibility that these renders may turn out to be false," Engadget said on its report in the same way that everything said about the iPhone 8 can be classified as speculative claims - all rumors.

The same applies with Ming-chi Kuo's recent forecast that only the iPhone 7S will hit the market following a September intro. The iPhone 8 will also be revealed but will not start selling until later in the year due to supply and production constraints.

And rumor too was the forecast issued by JP Morgan this May that Apple will pull a surprise when the WWDC 2017 kicks off on June 5 - the iPhone 8 will be introduced or at least given a preview at the event with the device release date to follow later.