Rumor: Next-gen iPhone home button to incorporate Force Touch features

Apple may be looking to introduce Force Touch features to the home button on the next-gen iPhone.

Citing a report released by analysts at Cowen and Company, a number of supply chain “field checks” have indicated that Apple may do away with a physical home button, instead adopting a home button that sits flush with the phone.

Apple’s Force Touch technology will reportedly be built into the home button to provide haptic feedback when pressed, much like the Force Touch trackpad on Apple’s most recent MacBooks. With haptic feedback, iPhone users would still feel the sensation of pressing on the home button even without a button to actually depress.

Although Cowen and Company has a mixed track record, it’s worth noting that this corroborates other rumors about a redesigned home button on the upcoming iPhone.

Other rumors have cited the possibility of better water resistance as well as the ever-present rumor of the elimination of the 3.5mm headphone jack in the next-gen handset.

If the physical home button is replaced with a Force Touch home button in the iPhone 7, it will bring Apple one step closer to eliminating the home button all together, something that is rumored for the iPhone 8, coming in 2017. Apple is said to be planning on introducing an edge-to-edge display with built-in Touch ID functionality and no home button.

As always, please let us know what you think and stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

Via MacRumors and Business Insider