Amidst all the rumors of Apple launching different models of its flagship iPhones, such as the the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, a mini 4-inch iPhone 6C and iPhone 7, new concept designs of the iPhone 8 have now surfaced online along with some pretty interesting features.

Following the release of the iPhone 6 towards the end of 2014, Apple was widely expected to follow up with the launch of the next generation iPhone 7 about 12 months later. The company was also expected to update both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus with the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, and release the iPhone 7 in September this year, by when the iPhone 6 would complete the one-year-cycle.

But media reports suggested that Apple was planning to reduce its smartphone update cycle by half this year, which means that it could launch two new phones in 2015, the iPhone 6s and possibly the iPhone 6S Plus with a bigger screen and a pre-installed Apple SIM (universal SIM card. Other rumors had indicated that Apple would launch three handsets in September, the iPhone 6s, the iPhone 6S Plus with a bigger screen and the mini 4-inch iPhone 6C, a successor to the lower-cost iPhone 5C launched in 2013. However, the latest media reports had predicted that that a new Force Touch technology featured in the next iPhone would make it so different that the new handset would be called iPhone 7, and the company was unlikely to debut its much-anticipated 4-inch iPhone 6C model this year.

Now concept designs of the iPhone 8 have surfaced online showing a premium stylish device with a 4.7-inch display in a 14 karat gold body made of glass and carbon fiber panels with an aluminum frame. An Apple logo in the rear of the handset will be embedded with RGB micro LEDs and will flash as per the notifications with specific colors, depending on the type of app or notifications. According to the concept, the iPhone 8 will sport a laser keyboard, a 25MP camera and a 5MP secondary camera, as well as solar charging.

Another design conceptualized for the Apple iPhone 8 shows the next generation iPhone sporting unibody glass design with curved edges around a metal body. Unlike the display in the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge that is wrapped around the side edges, the display in the iPhone 8 merges around the top edges.

While the Apple iPhone 8 is a long way off and it is too early to speculate about the device, these concept designs do give a good idea of what Apple fans are expecting from the company's next-generation iPhone.