Next year’s iPhone 8 ‘will have wireless charging and no home button’

APPLE’S iPhone 8 could dispense with the charging cable AND the home button when it is launched next year.

The two features may go the same way as the headphone jack when the latest model is launched for the device’s ten year anniversary in 2017.

It has also been rumoured that the smartphone will feature an edge to edge display in the top of the range model alongside two standard versions.

Foxconn Technology in Taiwan is making wireless modules to go with their next model according to .

An industry source told the Asian publication: “Whether the feature can eventually make it into Apple’s updated devices will depend on whether Foxconn can boost the yield rate to a satisfactory level later on.”

It is currently not obvious whether the California firm would offer a wireless charging plate, similar to Samsung’s offering or something different.

But one of the patents filed by Apple in the US shows images of a charger similar to that used by the Apple Watch.

The patent itself is mainly focused on a metal brushing technique but also refers to and “inductive charging station.”

According to Mac Rumours: “In describing how the tools would work, the application includes multiple illustrations of a charging station used to provide electrical current to another device via inductive power transmission.

“An inductive transmitter coil wraps around a metal core and is designed to pair with a receiver coil and charge the battery in the electronic device.”

Other rumours indicate that the home button could be for the high jump and replacing it with a phone capable of scanning a fingerprint anywhere on the screen.

It was also revealed today that Apple had a patent for a foldable version of the iconic handset.

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In the patent application, Apple says the housing for the phone could be aluminium, glass, ceramic or even plastic for the bendable screen.

Apple is granted about 2000 patents a year, and just because it patents something it does not mean that it will result in a product.

But chief design officer Jony Ive gave an insight into the time involved in going from an idea to implementation last week in an interview about the new MacBook Pro Touch Bar, saying the design of the Touch Bar came after two years of trying a range of designs.

Apple is expected to majorly revamp the iPhone design next year although if it does develop a fordable iPhone that is likely to be something several years down the track.

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