samsung vs apple 2017
How do next year's flagships compare? We take a look at the rumours surrounding Apple's iPhone 8 and the Galaxy S8
It's that time of year again, Samsung just launched its new flagship, the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus. Meanwhile, Apple won't launch a new iPhone until September, but this year is a special year; it's the iPhone’s 10th birthday and Apple is believed to be introducing a TON of new features, specs and a brand new design language.Samsung is once again the biggest phone maker on the planet, beating Apple and Huawei. TrendForce released a report this week that shows all the movers and shakers in the mobile space for Q1 2017.
Samsung is the biggest player, followed by Apple and then Huawei, Oppo and BBK/vivo. LG managed to sneak into the top six, but only just. BlackBerry, HTC, Sony, OnePlus and the rest are once again left to pick up the crumbs.
What’s most surprising about Samsung’s return to the top of the pile, however, is that it managed to do it inside Q1 without a new flagship or the Galaxy Note 7, which certainly bodes well for later on in 2017 with the Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
TrendForce is concerned about Samsung’s potential for later on in the year, however, given just how much hype and attention Apple’s iPhone 8 is getting at the moment. Most analyst firms agree that 2017 will be a MASSIVE year for iPhone, regardless of how good the competitions’ offerings are.
"Major brands such as Samsung, LG and Huawei have begun to ship their flagship devices for the year, but the market demand going into the second quarter is expected to remain relatively weak as consumers are holding off their purchases in anticipation of the 10th anniversary iPhone devices that will arrive in the third quarter. Smartphone sales will be fairly lackluster until the second half of this year. TrendForce estimates that the global smartphone production volume for this second quarter will register a modest single-digit growth versus the preceding three-month period."
Although there's a ways off for the iPhone launch, the handsets (three are rumoured) have been talked about pretty extensively already, so there's a lot of info out there. Plenty of it is from reliable and reputable sources as well, and a lot of it corroborates, overlaps, or lines up in such a way that we feel reasonably confident in being able to predict roughly how these devices will compare. So that's where this article comes in, a somewhat tentative and speculative look at all the rumoured info.
Right. Let’s delve into what’s currently known about these two, very special handsets.
iPhone 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: Major Specs
Rumored iPhone 8- Display: 4.7, 5.5 and 5.8in 1920 x 1310 Curved OLED
- Storage: 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB
- CPU and RAM: A11 processor, 3-4GB RAM
- Front Camera: 8MP
- Rear Camera: 12MP dual-lens, dual-OIS, 4K video recording
- Extras: Iris scanner, wireless charging
- Display: 5.8 and 6.2in 2960x1440 Super AMOLED Display
- Storage: 64GB internal, 256GB expandable
- CPU and RAM: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 or Samsung Exynos 8895 Processor, 4GB RAM
- Front Camera: 8MP with autofocus
- Rear Camera: 12MP, 4K video recording, optical image stabilization.
- Extras: Iris scanner
Apple’s silicon is always impressive. The past two generations of Apple’s A-Series chipsets have been remarkable pieces of technology, improving performance, power consumption and graphical prowess dramatically each and every year.
With the advent of higher resolution displays, more display real-estate and the very real possibility of a Pro model iPhone, this year’s A11 CPU could well be the most potent we’ve seen released in a good long while.
TSMC is reportedly making Apple’s 10-nanometer chipset with production reportedly starting as early as Q2 2017.
The transition to 10 nanometers should enable Apple to pack a lot more features and functionality into a given area than it could with the 16-nanometer technology that the A10 Fusion chip is built on,” notes fool.com.
“TSMC previously said that its 10-nanometer technology will see a ’20% speed gain and 40% power reduction’ relative to its 16-nanometer technology.”
Basically, if you're coming to the iPhone 8 from the iPhone 6, which a lot of people will be, you will definitely notice the difference.
As for RAM, its likely a tie. Entry level iPhone 8’s might have 3GB of RAM with the Plus maxing out at 4GB. But the S8 also includes 4GB of RAM!
As for storage options, the iPhone 8 will likely max out at 256GB. It’s the breadth of internal storage that really beats the S8 here. Although, the S8 could actually end up with more storage. While it only offers 64GB internal, it maxes out to over 300GB with its support 256GB SD cards.
iPhone 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: Display
At present it's thought there will be three size variants of the iPhone 8 at 4.7in, 5.5in, and 5.8in. However, Apple is rumoured to be adopting curved OLED displays to incorporate a wrap-around, bezeless display in a unique new, slightly iPhone 4S-insipired curved glass bodyshell, but it is strongly claimed that this will only apply to one model which will be priced at a premium, as Apple is unable to source enough of the curved OLED panels for every variant.The model with the curved display is also believed to be the one which will have other high-spec bells and whistles, such as a dual-OIS dual-lens camera. The resolution for the iPhone 8's display will allegedly be 1920 x 1310 pixels and it is said that the Home key and fingerprint scanner will be embedded under the display glass. It's not clear whether 3D Touch will make a return, but our guess is that it likely will.
According to the newly emerged patent filing, reports the Daily Star, "Apple is woking on a flexing display that is moveable between a folded position and an unfolded position.”
It added: "Giving the flexible phone reactive skills, the application has detailed how the future phone will play host to a sensor that detects whether the flexible display is in the folded position or the unfolded position. Using this, it adds it will benefit from processing circuitry that automatically turns on the flexible display when the flexible display moves from the folded position to the unfolded position.”
This technology could well be for later models, however.
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Not that this is a new trend; the Apple Pencil, for instance, simply took what Samsung was doing with its Note range and brought it to iPad. The addition of curved displays for iPhones, however, is a little closer to the bone, as this design attribute is something Samsung has very much made its own.
As for the Galaxy S8 phones, Samsung is doing away with flat displays and both Galaxy S8 variants will have curved Super AMOLED screens with a resultion of 2960x1440. The handset will not feature a Home button, a first for Samsung, in order to make room for more display in a similar-sized chassis. The overall look and feel of the Galaxy S8 is stunning, picking up where last year’s model left off, while refining things even further.
iPhone 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: Camera
The front S8 camera is only 8MP, but it does feature autofocus–a first. The front iPhone 8 camera will also likely be 8MP. Of the back lenses the S8 maxes out at a single-lens 12MP, while the iPhone 8 will have a 12MP dual-lens, according to reports.Some very recent reports have said that the model with a dual-lens and curved OLED display will also feature new dual-OIS, an upgrade from the iPhone 7 Plus which had a dual-sensor but only OIS in one of the two lenses. It’s likely Apple could also have improved software that makes it pictures more colorful and richer. However the S8 is likely to take better night shots.
Both Samsung and Apple will push innovation in the imaging department. Apple will refine the dual-lens experience, adding in better sensors, improved image processing and, generally speaking, tighten everything up.
The iPhone 7 Plus’ camera – like the iPhone 6s Plus’ before it – was pretty exceptional anyway, so we don’t see Apple doing too much the overall setup; this just isn’t the company’s style – it likes to increment slowly, refining things over longer periods of time.
Samsung was said to be more than keen to beat Apple at its own game and take the crown for best overall camera in 2017. However, with only a single-lens rear camera, it appears Samsung has already lost this battle..
iPhone 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: Extras
Besides new designs for each, what could the “killer feature” of both phones be? For the S8 it's the iris scanner, taking biometrics to the next level.However, the iPhone 8 is also said to support an iris scanner and wireless charging. Display technology is another area where Samsung will attempt to out-do Apple.
iPhone 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: AIs
Samsung’s having another stab at doing a digital assistant, and this one is called Bixby and it debuted inside the Samsung Galaxy S8. Bixby was developed by the original creators of Siri, who are now working under Samsung.Samsung will bring Bixby to ALL of its products as well; so it won’t just feature inside the Galaxy S8. Expect to see Bixby inside HDTVs, watches, tablets and more. Bixby is basically Samsung’s answer to Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa.
“The acquisition of Viv Labs would also allow Samsung to reduce its dependence on Google services,” reports The Express. “Samsung has already launched its own contactless payment options – Samsung Pay – which directly competes with Google's Android Pay solution.”
Viv Labs CEO Dag Kittlaus said: "Samsung is setting its sights on becoming a major player in software and services, and specifically AI.
“Samsung Pay has already proven to be one of the most successful mobile payment platforms in the market and SmartThings is another software acquisition signaling their conviction. And they have installed a new cadre of senior SW-savvy management stretching all the way to the top with a mission.”
iPhone 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: Verdict
Well… 2017 just got A LOT more interesting. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are two of the most impressive handsets we have ever seen. That makes Apple’s job with the iPhone 8 all the more difficult.The bar has been raised across the board by Samsung. The company hit the ball out of the park with the Galaxy S8, leaving no stone unturned. Apple’s iPhone 8 will likely be just as impressive. But where things could get interesting is if Samsung can convert any floating iPhone 7 users in the interim.
Given the quality of these phones, the design and the overall level of finish I can see A LOT of current iPhone users switching. I know I’m tempted!
What makes things even more interesting, though, is that Samsung still has the Galaxy Note 8 up its sleeve for later on in the year. This means Apple has two potentially massive-selling Android phones to contend with. Expect A LOT of excitement later on this year.
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