Apple Has Some iPhone Tricks Up Its Sleeve

With summer in full swing, iPhone speculation has hit a fever pitch. But who knew that speculation would also spill over into Apple plans for 2018?
Over the past several days, iPhone rumors have been flying fast and furious. One of those rumors suggested Apple might ditch the physical fingerprint sensor in this year's iPhone line and instead rely on camera-sensing technology that would allow users to unlock their iPhones by scanning their faces. The futuristic technology wouldn't be groundbreaking, though: Samsung already offers it in its Galaxy S8 handset.
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Soon after that rumor leaked, another report surfaced, saying Apple (AAPL, +1.06%) has plans to improve the screen technology in every iPhone in its smartphone line. The only problem is, those enhancements will be coming next year, and not in 2017.
Aside from that, Apple's week was rather quiet. Well, except for that Qualcomm request to have iPhones banned from being imported into the U.S.
This is Fortune’s weekly roundup of the biggest Apple news this week. To see last week’s roundup, click here.
Here's a look at all the biggest Apple news this week:
Apple is testing facial-scanning technology that could replace the fingerprint sensors in one of this year's iPhones, Bloomberg reported this week. The outlet's sources say the testing is going well and Apple is impressed by how quickly and accurately it can analyze a person's face and provide them with security verification. The feature could be used to unlock the rumored iPhone 8, as well as verify mobile payments through the company's Apple Pay service.
Apple is said to be planning to bundle organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen technology in this year's iPhone 8, and keep liquid crystal display (LCD) technology in the two other handsets it's reportedly planning to release. However, Nikkei reported this week that Apple will bring OLED technology to all of the iPhones it will release in 2018. OLED delivers a host of benefits over LCD, including brighter and more colorful visuals. Apple hasn't offered OLED in any iPhones to this point.
Qualcomm (QCOM, +1.02%) this week filed both a lawsuit with a U.S. federal court, as well as an action with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging Apple violates six of its mobile technology patents. In its action with the ITC, Qualcomm asked the agency to ban all iPhone imports into the U.S. for alleged patent infringement. Apple hasn't directly commented on the lawsuit and action, and will continue to sell iPhones stateside. The ITC could take up to 18 months to make a decision on the complaint.
Apple supplier Imagination Technologies slammed Apple's decision to no longer use the company's technology in iPhones. In an annual report filing, Imagination Technologies executives called Apple's decision "highly regrettable" and said that they believe Apple needs Imagination's technology to deliver graphics features in its iPhones. Still, Imagination intends to sell its business.
The Apple News app that delivers content from a host of media publishers to user iPhones could be getting an important update. According to an AdAge report, Apple is considering allowing publishers to serve their own ads in the Apple News app. The move would give media outlets far more control over how they monetize their content through the service, and could pave the way for Apple competitors, including Google's (GOOGL, +1.52%) DoubleClick, to profit off the company's popular News app.
One more thing...Apple might no longer hold the crown of the world's most profitable tech company. A report this week said Samsung could take the crown in its next quarterly filing with a $12.1 billion profit. Apple is expected to post a $10.6 billion profit during the same period.