Apple's iPhone 6S and 6S Plus have just been released but speculations about the next Apple mobile device are already making rounds - the latest of which is that iPhone 7 is going to do away with the home button.
Gene Munster, an analyst from full-service investment banking company Piper Jaffray, predicts what iPhone 7 would look like when we get to see it later in 2016. As Cult of Mac reported, Munster has been known in the Apple community for predictions that the tech giant is making an Apple TV.
According to Munster (via Barron's), "the addition of 3D Touch may provide Apple with a way to eliminate the home button on the phone and use the additional space to make the screen bigger or make the device smaller."
However, since the Touch ID is currently integrated into the home button, Apple may have to move the Touch ID reader to side, for instance, so it can remove the home button, Munster said. "We believe a home-buttonless iPhone has a 50% chance for the iPhone 7," he added. Cult of Mac thinks that the odds are a bit lower than that.
Another aspect that Apple might focus on, as it has larger opportunity for improvement, is battery life. Munster pointed out that Apple has already doubled the battery life of Macbooks over the past years from five hours to approximately 10 hours, through more efficient processors and software. It would surely be a plus for customers to have iPhone with battery that lasts longer than before.
Lastly, iPhone 7 could also have a sapphire screen as it has long been rumored for iPhones. Munster said since Apple is now using sapphire on its Apple Watch, it is not far-fetched that the next iPhone would adapt it. Cult of Mac doesn't bet on that though because of "how bad things went the last time Apple tried."
