WWDC 2018 takes place June 4 to June 8 in San Jose, California.
Apple Looking to Eliminate Home Button on iOS Devices, Integrate Touch and Display Driver Chips?
Apple is seeking to develop an in-house single-chip solution for integrating both the touchscreen and display drivers for mobile devices onto one chip, according to a new report today from Taiwanese site DigiTimes. The touch and display driver integration (TDDI) chips would also include "integrated fingerprint sensors", potentially allowing Apple to do away with the iconic home button.
Synaptics had hoped its acquisition of Renesas SP Drivers and its TDDI chips would entice Apple to once again become a Synaptics customer, but today's report suggests Apple is pursuing its own solutions.
DigiTimes suggests Apple's solution could eliminate the traditional iOS device home button, presumably by integrating its functionality into the device's screen, something Apple has explored in previous patent applications. This could allow future iPhones to see increased display sizes with edge-to-edge screens or smaller form factors with the same 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays seen on today's models.
Apple is internally developing touch and display driver integration (TDDI) single-chip solutions for its iPhones, according to sources in Taiwan's IC design industry.TDDI is a new advance in the industry, with Synaptics introducing the first such solution earlier this year. Synaptics created its new TDDI chips by leveraging its recent acquisition of chipmaker Renesas SP Drivers, combining Synaptics' touch technology chipset with Renasas' display technology. Apple reportedly explored acquiring Renesas SP Drivers last year but the talks failed to lead to a deal.
The TDDI single-chip solutions will also come with integrated fingerprint sensors, said the sources. The integrated design would fit into future iPhone designs – models with ultra-thin and ultra-narrow displays, and with a whole plane design eliminating the Home button.
Synaptics had hoped its acquisition of Renesas SP Drivers and its TDDI chips would entice Apple to once again become a Synaptics customer, but today's report suggests Apple is pursuing its own solutions.
DigiTimes suggests Apple's solution could eliminate the traditional iOS device home button, presumably by integrating its functionality into the device's screen, something Apple has explored in previous patent applications. This could allow future iPhones to see increased display sizes with edge-to-edge screens or smaller form factors with the same 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays seen on today's models.
Related Roundup: iPhone 6s
Tags: digitimes.com, Synaptics
Buyer's Guide: iPhone 8 (Caution)
[ 186 comments ]
Top Rated Comments
(View all)
38 months ago
Urgh. I hate software buttons for these kind of uses. Samsung Galaxies are the worst for it. Can't even hold the phone without it triggering the back button all the time, it's awful.
iPhone's have it pretty much perfect with the balance of software/hardware buttons and switches. Physical home button all the way for me.
iPhone's have it pretty much perfect with the balance of software/hardware buttons and switches. Physical home button all the way for me.
38 months ago
The earliest this could be seen would be iPhone 7. Not going to happen for the 6S.
38 months ago
Good! About time they try and maximize screen space for the form factor. With their unrelenting desire to make everything thinner and lighter, I never understood why they wouldn't also want to eliminate the "wasted" space on the front of the phone.
38 months ago
yes please or at least make app switcher a gesture. double tapping the home button all the time is annoying. also less bezel!
38 months ago
well, about once every two, three weeks my screen becomes unresponsive due to an app that's misbehaving or a bug that hasn't been fixed in iOS or for whatever reason. so to do away with a hard-restart option does not seem like a great idea. maybe a on/off button-volume button hard restart option would have to be instituted instead.
38 months ago
Year after year, the home button being removed has been a persistent rumor that has yet to even come close.
Personally, I think the phone needs a real tactile button that functions as the "oh siht" button that returns you to a familiar home screen. And by real, I mean not faked with force-touch. I mean real as in I know that I clicked it whether or not the phone is on and no software override can change the way it clicks.
Personally, I think the phone needs a real tactile button that functions as the "oh siht" button that returns you to a familiar home screen. And by real, I mean not faked with force-touch. I mean real as in I know that I clicked it whether or not the phone is on and no software override can change the way it clicks.
38 months ago
Is there any way of Apple putting the FaceTime camera behind the screen also? I think I remember a rumour about that. If they can, it would make sense (and a lot more "wow") to do both at the same time and give a phone that was nothing but screen.
38 months ago
I look forward to a future without bezels. I might be wishing for too much.
38 months ago
How about an edge to edge screen with force touch home. May be a learning curve, and I am not sure where the touch id sensor would go, but an edge to edge screen on one of these would be divine.
[ Read All Comments ]
Apple is closing its Apple Store located in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which will affect 52 employees who currently work at the store and will need to be relocated, reports Bloomberg.
Apple has...
For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with WaterField Designs to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win the company's Atlas Executive Athletic Holdall, a bag that's ideal for...
Apple today launched the latest sale on Beats by Dre products, including markdowns on the BeatsX, Powerbeats3, Solo3 Wireless On-Ear Headphones, and Studio3 Wireless Over-Ear Headphones. Make sure...
Twitter is testing a new "Data saver" toggle on iOS devices, as one user shared on the social media platform this morning. For users in the test, the data saver setting is housed at the very...
A special "Decade Collection" range of Beats Headphones are currently being promoted by online retail merchants ahead of scheduled availability on June 4, suggesting Apple will officially...
Apple's AirDrop feature lets you wirelessly send and receive files between nearby Macs as well as to and from local iOS devices. It's usually accessed from the sidebar of an open Finder...
Since November 2017, AT&T has offered customers the chance to get the 32GB Apple TV 4K at no extra cost when they sign up and pay for either four months or three months of DirecTV Now. Since this...
Mophie today announced the launch of the Charge Stream Travel Kit, which is a wireless charging kit that's designed for use while traveling, as the name suggests.
Designed for the iPhone X,...
