The iPhone hype continues.
On Monday, Apple enthusiasts were hit with a double whammy. A new leak of the iPhone 8 came out, prompting rumors of a copper colored phone, as well as providing users with a better idea of what the body of the phone would look like. As if that weren’t enough, Apple also finally launched its own Instagram account, gaining 20,000 followers in 40 minutes.
Read: Apple iPhone Sales Set to Soar Over Pent-Up Demand, Analyst Says
In his latest YouTube video, Marques Brownlee demonstrated a dummy body of the iPhone 8, which combines all of the existing credible rumors about the phone. The phone will reportedly have an OLED display with a much sharper resolution than the iPhone 7 Plus. Eliciting even more excitement, however, is the expected development of facial recognition technology.
Brownlee’s video is only one in a series of purported leaks around the iPhone 8 and iPhone 7s Plus in recent days. Apple executives have stayed typically quiet around the new upcoming model and it remains to be seen how much, if any, of the features demonstrated in the video will make it into the final product.
Read: Here’s What Apple’s iPhone 8 Could Offer According to a New Leak
Meanwhile, Apple joined the Instagram game on Monday, posting photos under the username @apple. The account features photo sets of work by iPhone photographers, effectively acting as an extension of Apple’s existing “shot on iPhone” advertising campaign. The account encourages other users to participate, using the hashtag #ShotOniPhone.
Billions of photos are taken each year on iPhone. With 700 million active users on Instagram (large numbers of which are iPhone owners), Apple is leveraging its existing base to drum up excitement around their products and showcase the creativity of its users. The photos posted on Apple’s Instagram account to date are comprised of photos taken by such users, rather than by Apple itself.
While Apple already has Instagram accounts for several of its other products (such as Apple Music and iBooks), this is the first account dedicated exclusively to iPhone photography. The @apple account will allow the company to continue to engage with its users and remind them of the quality of the phone’s camera—and ensure that the hype around the tech giant’s mobile phones will not soon die down.
