The rumors about what will change with the next generation of the iPhone are really heating up. We expect big innovations with the iPhone 8 (or iPhone Edition, depending on which name rumor you believe.) One of the near certainties, though, is that the new handset won’t have a physical Home button or much of a bottom bezel.
In that vein, iDrop News has come up with some visualizations of what the new iPhone 8 Function Area might look like, taking a page from the new MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar.
Credible Rumors of a Function Area
Renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities predicted in February that Apple would set aside a portion of the iPhone 8’s rumored 5.8-inch display for the virtual Home button and Function Area.
Kuo suggests that this Function Area will operate much like the Touch Bar on the latest MacBook Pro, offering a row of virtual buttons that change based on the needs of the foreground app or iOS itself.
The thought is that the fingerprint sensor for Touch ID will also be embedded in the function area, and approximately 5.15 inches of “usable” screen space will be left on the handset. To see what this might look like, one of the renders developed by Benjamin Geskin for iDrop News clearly shows that virtual Touch ID sensor, and it appears gorgeous.
Lots of Options for the iPhone 8 Function Area, Just Like the Touch Bar
In another render, Geskin imagines not only the Touch ID integration, but also other buttons. It’s much like the way the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar offers contextual options. These definitely make sense for such a Function Area. These buttons include incoming call buttons and a mini-player for Apple Music. You can also see the bottom menu of the Apple Store app, and even image editing controls in the Photos app.
The Renders Don’t Stop With the iPhone 8 Function Area
Geskin’s visualization of the rumors keeps going, showing us what the rear case of the iPhone 8 might look like. For example, rumors and mockups of the vertical orientation of the iPhone 8’s camera lenses and TrueTone flash are shown. Also, there is another render of the Function Area being used for a mini-player for Apple Music.
Other Rumored Innovations
Of course, that’s not all that we’ve been hearing about the next-generation iPhone. Other rumored innovations and enhancements include:
This Is Getting Exciting
I hope Geskin and the team at iDrop News are on the money with these renders. The conceptualizations of what the iPhone 8 might look like are gorgeous. The rumors of how it might work are quite compelling. Such a device would definitely convince me to upgrade early from my iPhone 7 Plus. That would be a first for me, since I’m usually slow to adopt a new generation of the iPhone handset.
That is what I was thinking Rick. Maybe a triple press or something would bring up the touchbar.
It is an interesting idea. I wonder though if not having the “landing zone” for your finger in the pseudo button that is on the iPhone 7 will be hard to get used to. What are the accessibility implications for people with disabilities. I have come to really like the iPhone 7 non-button. I was skeptical at first.