Patient proves Apple could do away with iPhone’s home button

PanARMENIAN.Net - Earlier this week, it was reported that Apple could do away with the iPhone's home button by moving everything to the display. Cult of Mac has now uncovered a patent suggesting that Apple really could integrate Touch ID into the handset's display, Digtal Spy reports.

The patent entitled 'Fingerprint Biometric Sensor Including Drive Signal Level Updating' was filed by Apple back in December 2013 and goes into detail about how it would make the technology possible.

So-called 'sensing pixels' built into screens would be "based upon the updated drive signal level" and work "with the [user's] finger positioned adjacent to the array of finger biometric sensing pixels".

Removing the home button altogether would allow Apple to scrap some bezel, giving future iPhones more room for the display.

As with any patent, there is no guarantee that the technology will ever find its way to Apple's products - and it may be too early for the iPhone 6S.

Previous reports suggest that the next iPhone will make the jump to a 12-megapixel camera and include the Apple Watch's Force Touch technology.