The days of the iPhone’s iconic home button may be numbered. According to a new report on the upcoming iPhone 7 from Bloomberg, which primarily focuses on a Japan-specific mobile payment option Apple may add to its new smartphone, the company plans to remove the physical button when it releases the 2017 iPhone.
This corroborates an earlier report from The Wall Street Journal, which said Apple design chief Jony Ive has been pushing his team to create an iPhone that “appear like a single sheet of glass” when viewed from the front. Features like Touch ID are expected to be integrated into the display panel as part of a 10th anniversary iPhone that pushes the design envelope further than any past iPhone.
According to a Nikkei report from earlier in the week, Apple may introduce a new high-end iPhone in 2017 that will feature an edge-to-edge OLED panel like the Galaxy S7 Edge. An analyst cited by Nikkei even speculates Apple will source OLED panels from Samsung.
As for the more immediate future, Apple will reportedly unveil the iPhone 7 on September 7. Reports from both Bloomberg and Nikkei say Apple will reveal two different takes on the iPhone 7: a 5.5-inch Plus model with two back-facing cameras and a regular 4.7-inch model with a single back-facing camera. Both models are expected to feature a pressure sensitive home button while ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack.
Related: Apple will reportedly release a curved OLED iPhone in 2017
[source]Bloomberg[/source]
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