Analyst Says Force Touch iPhone 7 is Coming, No iPhone 6C

The best rumors are iPhone rumors, right? Well, MacRumors has a few, brought to us courtesy of analyst Ming Chi Kuo from the firm KGI Securities. According to Kuo, Apple will bring a new version of its Force Touch technology it into the next generation of the iPhone—a rumor we’ve heard before. However, Kuo believes that the change would be so significant, that Apple would go ahead and call it the iPhone 7.

According to the post, Kuo claims that the new iteration of the Force Touch sensor would be different than the one Apple crammed into the new MacBook and the Apple Watch. Rather than determining the pressure of a person’s finger-press or tap directly, the new Force Touch would monitor “the contact area on which the finger touches the screen to decide how big the pressure is.”

Kuo elaborates on the ways Force Touch could be added to a new iPhone:

“There are two possible structural designs for Force Touch from a technology viewpoint. The Force Touch sensor can either be placed between the cover lens and the In-cell touch panel or under the In-cell touch panel’s backlight. In the first position, the technological challenge lies with how to produce the transparent Force Touch sensor; in the second position, the challenge is how to reduce signal interference from in-cell touch panel. Our understanding of the technology is that producing a transparent Force Touch sensor is more difficult, so the chances are the new iPhone this year will opt for the second position.”

Additionally, Kuo clearly believes that Apple will be bringing a new iPhone to market this year—which would certainly be in line with the company’s past strategy. The question, of course, is whether or not that’ll be the iPhone 7, or a revamped version of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Kuo also adds that a “4-inch [iPhone] model is unlikely to be released this year,” referring to the so-called iPhone 6C, for which we may have spotted a rear casing earlier this week. Of course, how or why Kuo believes any of this is anybody’s guess—but he’s been right before, lending an air of credibility to his predictions.

Still, I have to wonder whether or not he’s off the mark this time. Force Touch? Sure. But I really would be surprised if Apple skipped out on a smaller sized iPhone for a second year in a row.

[Source: MacRumors]