Advertisement

Analyst rumor: iPhone 8 'function area' to replace home button

Its 5.8-inch OLED screen is said to have a usable display of about 5.15 inches.

Reuters/Beck Diefenbach

While we're still months away from finding out exactly what's what with any new iPhone, the rumor mill is already running at full tilt. Following up on earlier reports of a 5.8-inch edgeless OLED-screened device arriving as the "iPhone 8," well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is telling investors more about what its home-button-less front screen could be like.

As explained by AppleInsider and 9to5Mac, the analyst notes that this presumed OLED iPhone with its $1,000+ price tag will be similar in size to the current 4.7-inch iPhone. However, instead of the home button, it will include a "function area" that can also display controls for video or games.

That would keep it matched in style with the recently released MacBook Pros and their OLED TouchBar, and, the analyst says, reduce the screen size used for everything else to about 5.15 inches. Last year the New York Times reported that the next iPhone would ditch the home button for virtual buttons built into the screen, and this rumor explains how all that could work. Losing the home button could indicate a lack of Touch ID, which could be replaced by a fingerprint reader embedded in the display itself, or other biometric technology like face recognition.