Over the weekend, the iOS 11 GM firmware was leaked to several news portals. The firmware, which should be scheduled for release later this week, hints at some of the things that we can expect from Apple at its upcoming event scheduled for 12 September 2017; that’s 1am on 13 September for us Malaysians, including the names of the upcoming iPhones, and some interesting new features.
First up, according to developer, @stroughtonsmith, Apple will be launching three iPhones, and no, it’s not what we previously expected. Steve T-S says that the names will be called the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X. It was previously believed the regular iPhones with incremental updates would be called the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus, while the 10th anniversary iPhone would be called the iPhone 8.
https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/906542097284714496
The leaked firmware also hints at some features that we can expect including Face ID, animated emoji called Animoji, and more. There have been multiple reports saying that Apple will remove the Home Button from its tenth anniversary iPhone.
This means that the company would have to remove its Touch ID fingerprint sensor from the device. Multiple reports say that the Cupertino company will replace it with a new face recognition feature, and it might be true after all. The term Face ID is found in the iOS 11 GM firmware, along with an animation that shows users how it works.
The new facial recognition capability can do more than just help users unlock the iPhone X. The iOS 11 GM firmware also shows off a new feature called Animoji, which uses the 3D face sensor to create 3D animated emoji based on the user’s facial expressions. Why use boring emoji when you can opt to use a custom and animated Animoji of unicorns, robots, robots, pigs, poo, and many more?
Other notable things leaked in iOS 11 GM firmware include changes to the status bar, portrait lighting, and true tone display. Since the iPhone X is reported to have minimal bezels, the company will be making some changes to the status bar to accommodate to the new design. According to the firmware, the status bar will have animations to provide users information – the left side will show the time and location information, while the right will show Wi-Fi connections, signal strength, and battery life.
Image source: @stroughtonsmith
Finally, the iOS 11 GM firmware also shows some new camera features we can expect, from the iPhone X at least. Portrait Lighting should be similar to the current portrait mode, with support for Contour Light, Natural Light, Stage Light, Stage Light Mono, and Studio Light. These should be the different flash modes available when capturing portrait images.
While these leaks seem reliable since it comes directly from the final version of iOS 11 software, do take them with a pinch of salt. The official announcement is only about a day away, so just wait a little more to hear the news directly from Apple.
(Source: 9to5Mac 1, 2, 3, 4, @stroughtonsmith)
