Will Apple Launch a High-End Ceramic iPhone 8 Next Year? New Reports Suggest the Company Won’t

So far we’ve heard a myriad of rumors suggesting that Apple will transition to a new construction material for the company’s forthcoming, 10th anniversary ‘iPhone 8’ handset, which is likely to debut in the fall of 2017.

Several different materials have surfaced as possibilities from the rumor mill so far, including, according to renowned KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo, an all-glass body encapsulated by a metal or stainless steel frame. Another possibility is that, after years of working with the product behind closed doors, Apple will finally come out and employ its super-strong alloy, Liquidmetal. Last but not least, in response to a post on Quora titled “What will the iPhone 8 be made of?”, self-proclaimed alchemist and metaphysician, Brian Roemmele, offered a rather solid and well thought out case as to why Apple will instead be switching to a zirconium ceramic material — similar to that used by the company to create its glossy white, $1,249+ Watch Series 2 Edition. Roemmele cites a number of thought-provoking points to substantiate his reasoning, such as how ceramic is a fantastic heat dissipation material, how it allows connectivity signals (such as Wi-Fi, LTE, and Bluetooth) to pass through with ease, and the simple yet nevertheless irrefutable fact that ceramic, generally speaking, is just really, really strong and durable.

Roemmele also suggested, perhaps unknowingly, that manufacturing iPhone cases using these ZrO2 (Zirconian Ceramics) would actually, somehow, some way, be easier for Apple to produce than the 7000 series aluminum cases currently employed.

Well, not to throw a big bucket of water on this metaphysician man’s scientific parade or anything, but according to some other people more “in the know” with Apple’s actual manufacturing processes, such a transition to zirconia ceramics or whatever, as Roemmele is suggesting, would be an extremely difficult, if not impossible, transition for Apple.

Roemmele cites the Cupertino-company’s vast and expansive infrastructure for creating aluminum iPhone casings, which, after years of development and refinement, is already in place, fully able to churn out a whopping 1 million iPhones — every single day — during peak production season.

That’s according to product designer Greg Koenig of Luma Labs, who, after refuting many of Roemmele’s claims, suggested that Apple has spent several years developing and perfecting its manufacturing infrastructure, and therefore would have little interest in disrupting the efficiency currently being achieved.

“I’ve seen pictures of one shop with acres of Fanuc Robodrills making iPhones, and that was only one of about a dozen such facilities,” Koenig writes, referring to the multitude of manufacturing facilities at which Apple’s manufacturing partners actually create these iPhone cases. “Apple is such a huge buyer of a particular kind of mill (BT30 spindle drill-tap centers) that Fanuc, Brother and DMG Mori each have factories dedicated to building machines exclusively for Apple.”

As a result, according to Koenig, the only way that Apple could therefore “transition” to a new material, is if the company were to diversify its construction materials, instead, perhaps into different categories, such as standard or premium, for example. Apple could market a more expensive, higher-end ‘iPhone 8 Plus’ — featuring a ceramic or stainless steel or something other than 7000 series aluminum construction. But the company would also offer plenty of standard, 7000 series aluminum options, too.

At the end of the day, I think it’s unlikely that Apple would do something as drastic as uproot, and then reinstate, its entire fleet of iPhone chassis manufacturing machinery; especially not after spending all these years and millions of dollars developing the infrastructure capable of churning out 7000 series aluminum like it were merely Cheerios.

I must say, however, that regardless of what materials are ultimately used to manufacture the iPhone 8, Apple has seriously got to do something big. Some major design change, a new material, or even two; something, or anything to make the iPhone 8 a truly remarkable, standout device. If you’d like to learn about the top four most credible iPhone 8 rumors, click here.

Is a new ceramic body for the iPhone 8 the feature you are hoping for?
Or is it something else?
Let us know in the comments!

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]