A pressure-sensitive Home button, which would not physically depress but instead simulate a click through haptic feedback, has been predicted by several sources for this fall’s iPhones. Now, one of the most reliable sources of news about unannounced Apple products has concurred…
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who clinched a long line of juicy Apple scoops during his time as a writer for 9to5Mac, reports that, according to his sources, the new iPhones “will have a pressure-sensitive button that provides feedback to the user via a vibrating haptic sensation rather than a true physical click.” The mechanism is said to be akin to that of the trackpads on the most recent MacBook models.
The addition of this feature – along with the widely expected omission of the 3.5mm headphone jack, which Gurman has also corroborated with his own sources – could help to make the iPhone 7 the most waterproof model in the product line yet, though a 100% waterproof design might still be out of reach.
Late last month, NowhereElse.fr editor and veteran tech leaker Steve Hemmerstoffer shared a photo of what was purportedly the iPhone 7’s front panel. In that picture, the panel appeared to show a circle, but not a cutout, for the Home button – boosting the credibility of predictions about a haptic button.
