iPhone concept image via Twitter / @GlobalFlare
Apple is planning to ditch its iconic aluminium casing and launch an all-glass iPhone next year, rumours suggest.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a track record of leaking accurate information on Apple products, has published a report claiming the American tech firm will completely redesign the iPhone in 2017.
Instead of the aluminium casing used in the iPhone 6 and 6s, Apple will move to an all-glass enclosure. This will be complemented by a new cutting-edge curved OLED display, supplied by Samsung.
This wouldn't be the first time Apple has used glass in its iPhones. The iPhone 4 and 4s had glass front and back panels, with a stainless steel band sandwiched between the two.
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However, these phones were plagued by durability issues, with many customers claiming their phones cracked too easily when dropped.
It is not clear how an iPhone could be constructed completely out of glass, but advances in toughened glass could make this possible by 2017 - and would be ideal for wireless charging and boosting antenna reception.
It would also enable Apple to differentiate from its competitors, many of which are now adopting aluminum casings.
Kuo notes that some investors are concerned that glass casing would be too heavy or fail a drop test, but said he believes that a return to glass casing will not be problematic for Apple.
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"Apple already uses glass casing for iPhone 4/ 4S, and non-Apple brands have also been using glass casings. We therefore think a drop test will not be problematic for glass casing," he wrote in his report, according to MacRumours.
"A glass casing may be slightly heavier than an aluminum one of the same thickness, but the difference is so small that the use of the thinner and lighter AMOLED panel will compensate for that."
The rumour suggests the iPhone 7, due to be released later this year, will look a lot like the iPhone 6 and 6s, with the major design overhaul saved for the "iPhone 8" in 2017 - perhaps intended to coincide with the iPhone's 10th anniversary.
Source: Mirror UK
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