Apple iPhone 8 AR render
A fan-made render of the iPhone 8. Gabor Balogh

The chief executive of an assembly company involved in Apple's iPhone supply chain seems to have confirmed that the upcoming iPhone 8 will be waterproof and include wireless charging support. Wistron's Robert Hwang dropped the bombshell at a meeting with press following the company's annual shareholders' meeting on Wednesday (14 June).

While the Taiwanese company's exec did not confirm whether each of the rumoured trio of iPhones expected to launch in late 2017 - the iPhone 7S, iPhone 7S Plus and the 10th anniversary device commonly referred to as iPhone 8 - he did reference a new testing process that has forced the company to "alter the assembly process a bit."

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"Assembly process for the previous generations of [iPhones] have not changed much, though new features like waterproof and wireless charging now require some different testing, and waterproof function will alter the assembly process a bit," Hwang said (via Nikkei).

While Apple's primary supply chain primarily relies on Foxconn, Pegatron and a number of other manufacturers for production and assembly of the iOS smartphone, it has been speculated that Wistron will be sharing the workload on a 5.5in iPhone for 2017 with other companies.

The 5.5in device is reportedly the iPhone 7S Plus, which could mean the larger iPhone 7S model will also improve its water resistance grading over the IP67-rated splash and water-resistant iPhone 7 range. The "premium" anniversary iPhone, which could cost upwards of $1,000, is also expected to enjoy the benefits of waterproofing, and potentially wireless charging too.

Other rumours for Apple's birthday phone include a "new type of screen, curved glass and stainless steel materials" made from an OLED panel and surrounded by thinner bezels. A vertical dual-camera set-up has also been spotted in alleged CAD documents and a pair of wireless AirPods could be included in the box for free for cable-free audio.

Will it be enough to topple the stellar looks and performance of Samsung's superb Android king, the Galaxy S8? Time will tell.