When the phone was first mooted it was suggested that Apple was moving to a heavily curved OLED display.

Now the Nikkei has revealed that while Apple will add a slight curve to the iPhone 8, it won’t be similar to the ‘Edge’ displays delivered by Samsung Galaxy smartphones in recent years and will provide no additional functionality.

Nikkei staff writer Debby Wu’s sources told her the curve will be gentler than screens in Samsung's Galaxy S7 Edge handsets because Apple could not make the curved glass match the screens.

“While the curved screen will allow a viewable area of about 5.2 inches and make the iPhone even sleeker, it will not offer significant new functions,” the source said.

MacRumors’ Joe Rossignol has managed to confirm the Nikkei line and added that the 5.8-inch OLED panel (with 5.2-inch usable area) “will be flat across the front of the smartphone, and slightly curved along the left and right edges to conform with the layer of 2.5D glass that covers the display".

So why were the Tame Apple Press so certain that the iPhone 8 would be heavily curved? Apparently Apple tested multiple display prototypes based on flexible substrates, gave up on the idea.

Now after months of telling us how wonderful a curved screen would be, the Tame Apple Press is now saying how super cool it is that Jobs’ Mob is not doing it.

Forbes wrote  :“A heavily curved device looks brilliant, but it compromises structural integrity, warps the user interface over the sides and leads to innumerable accidental touches - especially when holding a phone in one hand.”   

This is the same outfit which told us "And the iPhone 8, with a curved OLED screen, will be a flat out blockbuster which will easily outsell every variant that has come before at release" so suddenly the curved screen is not that important. 

Already the iPhone 8 is not looking like it will be much of a game changer after all. Colour us surprised.