iPhone 8 Mockup Notable for What’s Missing

The next iPhone won’t have a home button and won’t feature a fingerprint sensor on its back, suggest new mockup photos.

The pictures were published by BGR News, which claims that they are based on Apple’s final design for its new flagship smartphone. They depict a large device with rounded edges and a full-size screen on its front. On its back is a raised area containing a dual-lens camera system and mic; and the metallic sides of the device feature the usual components – volume buttons, speakers, a lightning port.

But it is what’s missing that is perhaps most noteworthy. The fact that there’s no home button and no visible fingerprint sensor suggests that Apple really is intent on integrating its Touch ID system directly into the display itself, if it isn’t planning to do away with it entirely. That would represent something of a breakthrough in the mobile biometrics industry, and would be a biometric advancement that nicely complements the 3D facial recognition anticipated for the device.

Of course, this remains firmly in the realm of speculation. BGR News has offered no details with respect to the source of its mockup images, saying only that the mockup is thought to be based on designs leaked from factories that will build the device.

Sources: BGR News, AppleInsider