It sounds like Apple and Samsung will release very similar smartphones next year
It sounds like Samsung's next big smartphone will be very similar to Apple's next iPhone.
A new Bloomberg report, citing sources with "direct knowledge of the matter," claims that Samsung's Galaxy S8 smartphone will have all-screen front surface - the next-generation iPhone, which is rumored to have many "high-end" features in honor of the iPhone's 10-year anniversary - is also said to feature an edge-to-edge display with no home button.
Apparently, the Galaxy S8 will only be available in a "wraparound" display option, which could be referring to the Galaxy S7 Edge's design with a display that wraps around the phone's edges. Essentially, it sounds like the Galaxy S8 will look like a Galaxy S7 Edge, but with smaller borders around the screen. And that sounds stunning.
According to the report, Samsung will use an organic light-emitting diode display (OLED) for the S8 - again, Apple is also rumored to be using OLED displays for its next-gen iPhone. Samsung already uses a form of OLED display called AMOLED (active matrix organic light-emitting diode) for its Galaxy smartphones, which could be the OLED screen technology that Bloomberg's report is referring to.
The report also suggests the mechanical home button we usually see on Galaxy smartphones will make way for a home button embedded into the S8's front glass panel, making it less visible. The next iPhone will apparently have a similar setup, with either a less visible home button or none at all.
Rumors about Apple's upcoming "high-end" iPhone in 2017 suggest many of the same features, from the front panel to the less-visible/completely missing home button, to the OLED display. Apple is said to be keeping the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone models, which may feature the same LCD displays and look very similar to the iPhone 7 overall, but this new iPhone with all the high-end features will reportedly have an OLED display that measures 5.1 or 5.2 inches.
Samsung's AMOLED display is superior on several levels compared to LCD screens found on iPhones, and it's easy to see why Apple would switch display technology for its upcoming iPhones. For one, OLED displays consume less power, as parts of the screen showing black are actually turned off, therefore not drawing any power. LCDs, on the other hand, have a backlight that's constantly turned on, even for parts of an image on the screen is black. AMOLED displays can also display richer colors and better contrast ratios, allowing them to deliver a better picture than LCD displays.
Either way, both Galaxy S8 and iPhone rumors are just that: Rumors. Nothing is set in stone until each company reveals their respective devices at their launch events. We expect Samsung to announce the Galaxy S8 around the same time it announced the S7 - in February of next year. For the iPhone, we expect Apple to announce its newest models in September when it usually holds its annual iPhone event.