It is already speculating on iPhone 7: No home button and with greater autonomy
The future Apple smartphone could heavily leverage 3D Touch and remove the physical home button, to make room for a larger display or to reduce the overall size.
Despite the new series of iPhone 6s and 6s Plus has recently come on the market, already emerge the first rumors about likely successors who will see the light in a year. The latest speculation comes from analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, historically quite attentive to the moves of Apple and quite known for his insistence, in recent years, about the elusive Apple HDTV.
In a note sent to investors, Munster says that iPhone 7 will introduce completely new aesthetic approach and could see the complete elimination of the home button, the increase in the size of the display, greater operational autonomy of the battery and the presence of a screen sapphire crystal.
The whole thing could be done on the basis of the changes introduced with the latest series of the iPhone: ” The addition of 3D Touch to Apple could offer a way to remove the home button on the phone and use the space to adopt a larger screen or to reduce the size of the device. A barrier could be the Touch ID, which is integrated in the home button. Apple may have to move the sensor in the back of the phone to remove the home button, ” says Munster. The hypothesis could then envisage a future where the iPhone the Apple logo incorporates the sensor Touch ID.
Munster also believes that Apple will focus on the autonomy operative, following the same path that has come with the evolution of the Mac laptops coming to propose models that work away from a power outlet for 10 hours. Certainly the widening the operational independence would be a novelty very well received by the public. The roads on which Apple could point are the optimization software, energy efficiency of the SoC and, perhaps, also the improvement of the battery.
Finally the adoption of a sapphire crystal is a rumor circulating for some time even before the advent of the iPhone on the market 6s and 6s Plus. Apple already uses this material to Apple Watch and could thus decide to extend its use also to future smartphones.
