The iPhone 8 is shaping up to be one of the biggest launches of 2017.
Apple is reportedly hard at work on its next flagship device, which is set to be released later this year to mark the tenth anniversary of the original iPhone back in 2007.
Rumours and reports suggesting new features and functions for the iPhone 8 have been swirling around for some time as excitement build for the device.
But now it looks like one of the most popular iPhone 8 rumours could be all but confirmed.
With many in the technology world expecting Apple to reveal a landmark device when it does launch the iPhone 8, a novel new design is one of the most highly-anticipated new features.
Apple is reportedly planning a major makeover for the iPhone 8, with a curved glass display spanning the entire width of the front panel.
Doing so would mean getting rid of the physical home button, currently used primarily to navigate back to the home screen, or to unlock the device with a fingerprint.
Multiple reports have claimed that Apple is planning to ditch the home button in favour of a touch-sensitive screen, but this has led to questions around what will happen to Apple's TouchID system, used for fingerprint authentication.
The expected death of a physical home button could mean the end of TouchID as we currently know it, but a new report has claimed that the feature will instead live on in another way.
A new Apple patent, granted this week and revealed by AppleInsider, appears to show that TouchID will survive in a new form.
The patent for "acoustic imaging system architecture" will allow a physical fingerprint sensor, such as that seen in TouchID, to be replaced by a number of smaller sensors under the display.
These sensors, known as acoustic transducers, generate waves or pulses, which are transmitted through the glass display to detect when a foreign body, such as a finger, interrupts them.
The system is compact enough to be built under the display, but can also be situated in other areas, such as on the side of the device, or on the rear.
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