‘iPhone 8’ may ship after Sept. 17

The “iPhone 8” — pictured in fanciful mock-ups — could ship after Sept. 17, according to a memo sent to AppleCare workers, as noted by AppleInsider.

“As you know, there are new product announcements and launches in September,” part of the memo shared by leaker Benjamin Geskin reads. “Keep in mind that these dates are subject to change as our support volume expectations fluctuate,”

To deal with an expected jump in call volume, the company is imposing a “black out” on time off for AppleCare staff between Sept. 17 and Nov. 4. 

The Sellers Research Firm (that’s me) says the next generation of Apple’s smartphone will be introduced in September with some units not shipping until October. As always, expect more demand than available product.

Also regarding the iPhone 8, the Chinese language site, Economic Daily News claims that Apple has successfully finalized a solution to integrate Touch ID fingerprint recognition directly into phone’s display. In addition to the fingerprint recognition, the article claims the new iPhones will also come with “invisible infrared image sensors to enhance the functionality of the high-pixel camera” and to enable augmented reality functions.