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Apple's coming out with a new iPhone this fall. Let's call it the iPhone 7.
And given that the iPhone 7 appears to have gone into mass production, we're starting to hear more and more details about what it's going to be like.
Here's a new rumor: analysts at Cowen and Company believe the iPhone 7 will have a "Force Touch home button."
This means that instead of the physical button that is currently on iPhones, Apple's new home button will sit flush with the rest of the phone.
Cowen cites "field checks" to back up its research and projections.
Instead of a physical mechanism, Apple will use its "Force Touch" technology and a motor inside the iPhone to provide the sensation that the button is being physically depressed.
This detail matches up with a blurry leaked picture that was published earlier this month.
9to5Mac's Ben Lovejoy separately reports that the Home button will use haptic feedback to "simulate a click, using the same approach as Force Touch," citing an anonymous source with an IP address "near Apple HQ."
As 9to5Mac points out, if this is in fact the case, Apple will need to use a different physical button for resetting the phone.
As comforting as physical buttons can be, the home button on iPhones is one of the most common failure points, and a new approach could reduce the number of broken devices at the Genius Bar.
It could also set Apple up for next year's iPhone, which is expected to look like a "single sheet of glass" and is expected to lack a home button.
Cowen analysts also expect the iPhone 7 will lack a headphone jack and will be waterproof, as previous rumors have suggested.
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