iPhone 8, iPhone X: Apple accidentally announces new naming scheme before release date

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Apple has accidentally confirmed the name of the new iPhone. And there's already a problem.

The three new handsets will be referred to as the iPhone 8, the iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X, according to secret software that appears to have been mistakenly made available to the public.

The same leak has revealed a range of other secret features of the new iPhone. Those include the fact that it will have animated emojis that track people's faces and be able to see whether people are paying attention to their phone.

The iPhone 8 and Plus will be, as usual, an updated version of the iPhone 7 – keeping its basic design while refreshing the internal components. The iPhone X will be the phone that most of the leaks so far have focused on and has thus far been referred to as the iPhone 8, which will feature an entirely new design and a range of brand new features, including the ability to unlock the phone with its owners face.

That latter name is already causing some trouble, because it's unclear whether it will be pronounced as a letter or as the number ten, which would potentially be a reference to the fact that it is the tenth anniversary of the iPhone. Apple has run into that confusion before, with it Mac OS X operating system – that was suppose to be pronounced as "ten", but was around for 15 years without any consensus or clarity appearing on the matter.

Apple retired the Mac OS X brand last year, instead swapping it for macOS, in line with the rest of its operating systems.

The name of new iPhones and other products is usually the least likely to leak, since it's only known by a small number of people within Apple and can be changed right up until the release date. For the same reason, Apple might change this branding scheme, but the names appear in the version of the software that will be shipping with new phones, and so are almost certain to be correct.

It's not the first time that Apple's own software has accidentally spilled secrets about the upcoming iPhone. Last month, the company mistakenly uploaded the software that powers its HomePod smart speaker, which contained within it many secrets about the new handset.