Leaks reveal iPhone to dump home button and Touch ID
The new tech will employ biometric technologies and an updated home button, similar to Touch Bar on the latest MacBook
Ming-Chi Kuo has again delivered new leaks regarding the much acclaimed Apple iPhone 8 touted to launch this year, which is also incidentally Apple iPhone’s 10th anniversary.
In a new note to investors obtained by 9to5Mac, Kuo makes major claims regarding the iPhone 8’s design, display size, usable screen area, core navigation and new security technologies.
The major news is Kuo says Apple will remove the home button completely and replace it on the iPhone 8 with a ‘function area’ similar to the Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro line. The functional are will be contextual, adapting to whatever users need depending on what they are doing.
Kuo also states the replacing of the iPhone button with a functional area means the 8 will almost be bezel-less with a 5.8-inch display squeezed into a chassis no larger than the 4.7-inch iPhone 7. Excluding the functional area, the actual usable size of the display will be 5.15-inches — which is roughly in line with upcoming rivals like the Galaxy S8.
Kuo says the side effect of this major design overhaul is Touch ID has also reached the end of the line. It was thought Touch ID would be built into the display itself, but Kuo believes it will be instead replaced by “new biometric technologies” of which facial recognition and/or iris scanning must be required.
If Kuo is right (which is probably true given his track record), then Apple is making far bigger changes to the 2017 iPhone than even the most optimistic rumors that have been flying around the iPhone 8.
The new “iPhone X” will be moving to a curved 5.8-inch OLED display, an “all glass” chassis, quick charging, wireless charging and now killing off the Touch ID and the home button after the headphone jack, towards creating the most expensive iPhone ever made.
With these leaks, it is fast becoming clear the iPhone 8 will be the biggest upgrade and therefore the biggest gamble in Apple’s smartphone history. It seems that Apple has made up its mind to ditch the past and start afresh, a fitting way to celebrate the iPhone’s 10th anniversary.