More Reports Suggest iPhone 7 Will Axe Clickable Home Button, Feature ‘Space Black’ Color Option

The iPhone 7 will be here in just over a month, and although there are plenty of features and design changes expected for the device that are almost universally agreed upon, several rumors have gone back and forth over the past several months.

For example, most everyone agrees that the iPhone 7 will replace the traditional headphone jack with an extra set of speakers on the bottom of the device, and most also agree that the antenna lines on the back of the device will be re-positioned to sit along the top and bottom curves of the phone. However, two rumors that are a bit more controversial are back at the forefront of discussion – a capacitive home button and a Space Black color option for the iPhone 7.

A recent report published by Japanese site Mac Otakara speculates that the next generation iPhone will indeed feature a capacitive home button with 3D Touch support. If true, that would mean that the iPhone 7 lose the physical home button in favor of a touch-sensitive “button” area that sits flat with the rest of the device. With no moving parts, a capacitive Home button wouldn’t move up and down when pressed, and thus wouldn’t provide the user with the satisfying “click” that they’re used to.

In order to make up for the lack of moving parts, however, the device will reportedly feature haptic feedback to give users the feeling of a moving part when pressed. Combined with 3D Touch technology, which can differentiate between a hard or a soft press, the new capacitive Home button would likely feel very similar to the home buttons of the past. Such technology was recently implemented into the Force Touch trackpad on Apple’s most recent MacBooks.

Ditching a physical home button would give the iPhone 7 a number of advantages. For one, the physical home button on many previous iPhone models are oftentimes a point of failure for the device – broken parts or springs underneath the button are a frequent cause for repairs. The elimination of moving parts for the home button also eliminates the need for repairs on a frequently used part. Second, removing the home button, along with the headphone port, will do wonders to help waterproof the phone, another rumor that has floated around the web for months.

The Mac Otakara article also supports another controversial rumors surrounding the device, claiming that Apple will release a Space Black version of the device in September. A “Space Black” or “Deep Black” color, similar to the color found on the Space Black Apple Watch, has been rumored off and on for several months, with sites such as Mac Otakara supporting the rumor and sites such as macitynet.it refuting it. The most recent article claims that a black iPhone 7 is “highly likely”, comparing the color to the casing of the 2013 Mac Pro. There’s a good chance that this rumor will see more back-and-forth claims on the web until the official release.

How do you feel about non-clickable home button? How about ‘Space Black’? Let us know in the comments!

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]