Apple has unveiled the iPhone 8, designed to be compatible with augmented reality technology and can be charged wirelessly.

Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the next products in the company's hugely popular smartphone line will be the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, along with the iPhone X – to be released in celebration of smartphone's 10th anniversary.

Presented at this year's Apple Event, the iPhone 8 models are designed to be compatible with augmented reality – which overlays digital elements over real-life imagery via the camera.

With a variety of apps, users will be able to view information as text or images, or video-game environments, with their physical surroundings in the background.

Physically, differences to the product compared to recent models include glass on both sides – not seen since the iPhone 4. The glass on the back will also allow the devices to be powered-up wirelessly using Qi charging pads.

"This glass is the most durable ever in a smartphone," said Philip W Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

Other updates to the iPhone are mainly centred around photography, including the Plus' dual 12-megapixel camera.

The camera can alter the lighting of the subject while the shot is being composed, known as contour lighting, available in the iPhone 8 Plus' portrait mode. It can also shoot video in 4K definition.

The iPhone 8 phone will come as 64GB and 254GB versions, available to pre-order from 15 September 2017 and first shipped 22 September 2017.

The first iPhone was released a decade ago, and has undergone many changes through its various versions. "No other device in our lifetimes has had the same impact as the iPhone," said Cook. "It's truly amazing how much the iPhone affects out day-to-day lives."

"Over the past decade, we've pushed forward with innovation after innovation," he added.

The September 2017 Apple Event took place for the first time at the Steve Jobs Theater, situated on the company's vast new campus by Foster + Partners.

Located in Cupertino, California, Apple Park has still not officially opened, although thousands of the tech giant's employees have already moved in. Reports suggest that some of them are unhappy about working the main building's open-plan offices.