The presumed launch of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 7S are only a couple of months away, but as per usual, Apple is waiting till September for the big reveal.

In the meantime we can only dine on the morsels of information unearthed by intrepid data dwellers. One such morsel has once again pointed toward rumoured features for the iPhone 8 (thanks, The Verge), specifically face-recognition technology and a bezel-less screen.

Apparently Apple accidentally pushed out the firmware for its new HomePod smart speaker yesterday, and a load of developers have spent the intervening time dissecting it.

The HomePod, which isn't due out until December, contains most of the code base of iPhones inside it, and this led Steve Troughton-Smith and other developers to discover clues about the iPhone 8's new features.

First up is facial biometrics. Bloomberg reported that face-recognition technology would be coming to the iPhone 8 earlier this month, and lines within the HomePod code suggest this may be the case.

There are a bunch of lines of code that refer to"BKFaceDetect", where the BK likely refers to Biometric Kit (Apple just loves calling things 'kit').

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The code also references an infra-red camera, which would be able to detect a user's face, even in the dark.

There were also hints within the code as to the new shape of the iPhone 8's screen. For months rumours have been circulating about bezel-less edge designs similar to that of the Samsung S8, and an image within the HomePod code suggests that this may very well be the case.

The screen in this design appears to go up and around the speakers and sensors at the top of the phone.

Whatever the truth is, we'll soon find out: Apple debuts its phones in a couple of months.

However, you might not be able to get your hands on the device until months after that, as rumours currently suggest that due to new features, and the resulting manufacturing issues, the iPhone 8 could be released much closer to Christmas, in spite of a September reveal.

From: Digital Spy