Apple Developing Virtual Home Button for Future iPhone Models: Report

The leaks and rumours for the Apple's next-generation iPhone models are pouring in already and this time it deals with the long-anticipated 'virtual home button'.

Apple, after being rumoured to bring flash and 240fps support for its front-facing camera, is now said to have already started working on a touch and display driver integration (TDDI) single-chip solution that along with a new 'whole plane design' would eliminate the home button. This is being speculated to point at a virtual home button, integrated on the display.

The single-chip solution is said to feature integrated fingerprint sensors, reports Taiwan's Digitimes citing supply chain sources in the country's IC design industry. The integrated design will fit into the future iPhone model's 'ultra-thin and ultra-narrow displays', says the report. For now, no details about when such a design would make it into the iPhone lineup was mentioned.

The new rumour may fit in with KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo's forecast in April that the next-generation iPhone models featuring will sport Force Touch technology that will work differently when compared to the Apple Watch, new MacBook and 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro.

Kuo claimed that the Force Touch technology on the iPhone 6S will sense "how much of a user's finger contacts the display." It will only detect a touch when the user "adequately" touches the screen, thus differentiating it from light tap. Also claimed was that the upcoming iPhones will feature dedicated sensor, which will be placed under the backlight, to accurately measure touch pressure.