iPhone 7 Again Rumored to Have Flush, Touch-Sensitive Home Button

Apple may be planning to introduce a Force Touch home button on the iPhone 7, according to analysts at Cowen and Company (via Business Insider). Citing supply chain "field checks," Cowen and Company predicts the iPhone 7 will do away with a physical home button, instead adopting a home button that sits flush with the phone.

Apple's Force Touch technology will reportedly be built into the home button to provide haptic feedback when pressed, much like the Force Touch trackpad on Apple's most recent MacBooks. With haptic feedback, iPhone users would still feel the sensation of pressing on the home button even without a button to actually depress.

touchid
Cowen and Company has a mixed track record, but it's worth noting that we've heard two other rumors about a redesigned home button on the iPhone 7. In April, DigiTimes said Apple was testing a touch-sensitive home button that fits flush with the phone, and a highly sketchy image of what was said to be an iPhone 7 with a touch-sensitive home button surfaced in mid-June.

Given the unreliability of each of the home button rumors, the information should be viewed with some skepticism until confirmed by a more reliable source, but when viewed alongside rumors of improved waterproofing and the removal of the headphone jack, a flush home button is not a rumor that seems entirely out of the question.

For several months, we've heard mixed rumors about the possibility of better water resistance in the iPhone 7, but it appears to be shaping up to be a potential feature. Last week, The Wall Street Journal, often a reliable source, lent credence to the rumor by suggesting the elimination of the headphone jack in the iPhone 7 will improve its water resistance.

At the same time, The Wall Street Journal has said the iPhone 7 will feature only "subtle changes," a sentiment echoed by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said the iPhone 7 will be a modest update without "many attractive selling points." A revamped home button seems like more than a minor change, so we'll need to wait for additional information to resolve some of the conflicting information we're hearing about Apple's next-generation iPhones.

If the physical home button is replaced with a Force Touch home button in the iPhone 7, it will bring Apple one step closer to eliminating the home button all together, something that is rumored for the iPhone 8, coming in 2017. Apple is said to be planning on introducing an edge-to-edge display with built-in Touch ID functionality and no home button.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

WWDC25 Live Coverage Feature 1

WWDC 2025 Apple Event Live Keynote Coverage: iOS 26, macOS Tahoe, and More

Monday June 9, 2025 9:00 am PDT by
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) starts today with the traditional keynote kicking things off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. MacRumors is on hand for the event and we'll be sharing details and our thoughts throughout the day. We're expecting to see a number of software-related announcements led by a design revamp across Apple's platforms that will also see the numbering of all of...
maxresdefault

Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2025 in 9 Minutes

Monday June 9, 2025 5:21 pm PDT by
At today's WWDC 2025 keynote event, Apple unveiled a new design that will inform the next decade of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS development, so needless to say, it was a busy day. Apple also unveiled a ton of new features for the iPhone, an overhauled Spotlight interface for the Mac, and a ton of updates that make the iPad more like a Mac than ever before. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
liquid glass

Apple Announces All-New 'Liquid Glass' Software Redesign Across iOS 26 and More

Monday June 9, 2025 10:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced a complete redesign of all of its major software platforms called "Liquid Glass." Announced simultaneously for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, visionOS, and CarPlay, Liquid Glass forms a new universal design language for the first time. At its WWDC 2025 keynote address, Apple's software chief Craig Federighi said "Apple Silicon has become dramatically more powerful...
iPadOS 26 Apple Newsroom

Apple Says iPadOS 26 is Compatible With These iPad Models

Monday June 9, 2025 11:22 am PDT by
Apple today announced that iPadOS 26 will be compatible with the iPad models listed below. iPadOS 26 features a new Liquid Glass design, a menu bar, improved app windowing, and more. iPadOS 26 supports the following iPad models:iPad Pro (M4) iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later) iPad Air (M2 and later) iPad Air (3rd generation and...
iPhone Car Key WWDC 2025

Apple Says These 13 Vehicle Brands Will Soon Offer iPhone Car Keys

Monday June 9, 2025 2:38 pm PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. During its WWDC 2025 keynote today, Apple said that 13...
Apple WWDC25 iOS 26 hero 250609

Apple Announces iOS 26 With 'Liquid Glass' Design, Live Translation, Overhauled Phone App, and More

Monday June 9, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple at WWDC announced iOS 26, introducing a comprehensive visual redesign built around its new "Liquid Glass" concept, alongside expanded Apple Intelligence capabilities, updates to core communication apps, and more. Liquid Glass is a translucent material that reflects and refracts surroundings to create dynamic, responsive interface elements, according to Apple. The new design language...

Top Rated Comments

japanime Avatar
117 months ago
A home button that is flush with the front panel ... and a protruding camera lens that sticks out like a sore thumb on the back panel. :D
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Menopause Avatar
117 months ago
Gotta give it to Apple this time around, they have spammed rumors into the mill like the king of Nigeria himself. All hail the king of Nigeria.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
routine_analyst Avatar
117 months ago
Any rumors to whether or not they'll write
HOME BUTTON
right on the circle in super huge totally redesigned font? I mean...
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
twocents Avatar
117 months ago
Would be something else if they can manage to make the entire bottom bezel of the phone the home "button", similar to the trackpad on the Mac. No matter where your thumb sits, esp. with the Plus models, you can still access it.

And it would be a good logical step in moving users over to the future where Touch ID is embedded in the display and to give Apple the time and opportunity to work out the kinks to transition to a full display front face

Can't innovate anymore my ass!
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
noles1983 Avatar
117 months ago
get rid of the bezels!
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mw360 Avatar
117 months ago
Can't help thinking the concave nature of the home button served an actual usability function. Haven't Apple's designers learned anything from Can'ttellwhichwayupmyAppleTVremoteis-gate?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)