Rumored Specs: Samsung Galaxy S8, iPhone 8 Both Dropping The Physical Home Button?

The rumor mill continues to churn out possible specs of the iPhone 8 and Samsung Galaxy S8, the anticipated 2017 smartphone models from Apple and Samsung, respectively. Both are expected to get radical changes and if the latest specs rumors pan out, iPhone 8 and the Samsung Galaxy S8 will be the tech giants’ first flagship smartphones to not come with a physical home button.

According to Android Authority, citing Korean news website ETNews, Samsung wants to eliminate the iconic physical home button for its Galaxy S8, which as everyone knows, is where the fingerprint sensor is incorporated. In order to push through with this, the South Korean company has to find a solution to successfully embed the sensor in or underneath the screen glass of the Samsung Galaxy S8.

Eradicating the home button will also allow Samsung to create a bezel-less edge-to-edge display, supporting specs rumors that the Galaxy S8 will have a full-screen display.

“The handset is still expected to feature a dual-curved display just like earlier Galaxy phones, but the top and bottom bezels are reportedly going away as well,” BGR shared.

It seems like these changes will also be applied to Apple’s upcoming smartphone. The latest iPhone 8 specs reports have revealed the feasibility that the 2017 iOS smartphone will also kill the home button and will get an edge-to-edge screen. According to a post from Forbes, a patent that was issued earlier this week hinted that iPhone 8’s physical UI will be changed significantly. It might be equipped with a “curved glass on the front and back of the handset and a curved edge-to-edge screen,” the report shared. If Apple is really working on this, the iPhone’s home button will have to be replaced with a virtual one, which consequently will affect the fingerprint sensor TouchID.

Seeing the great importance of fingerprint recognition in user identification, verification processes, online banking, Apple Pay and a lot more, it is unlikely for the Cupertino-based tech firm to completely remove the TouchID functionality. Forbes’ post further reads below.

“Apple is not going to drop this feature. Neither will it want to change the UI paradigms of the identifying process (especially if the hardware changes on the preemptively titled iPhone 8 are as wide-ranging as expected). TouchID will need to sit under the screen.”

This is how a patent initially filed in 2014 and published recently by USPTO could be useful. With a title “Capacitive fingerprint sensor including an electrostatic lens,” the patent shows the process on how to integrate a TouchID-styled fingerprint sensor under a screen display.

As for other rumored iPhone 8 specs, it will reportedly use a flexible OLED display technology that Samsung Display is currently working on. According to PC Advisor, this will enable Apple to create a thinner iPhone 8.

“It should also consume less power while offering better contrast and colour reproduction,” the post noted.

Apple Watch uses the OLED display.

Meanwhile, other unconfirmed Samsung Galaxy S8 specs include a dual rear camera setup. Moreover, a previous Inquisitr report noted speculations that the primary shooter will have a 12MP or 13 MP lens. But the latest leak suggests a whopping 30MP rear snapper with OIS. The selfie camera, on the other hand, is allegedly getting a 9MP lens.

When it comes to its under the hood specs, Samsung Galaxy S8 is reportedly getting a 10-nanometer chip that’s going to be a hybrid of the Snapdragon 830 and Exynos processor. For the display specs, it is strongly speculated that the Galaxy S8 will have a 4K screen resolution to better support VR applications and features.

Tech enthusiasts are advised to take all these emerging Samsung Galaxy S8 and iPhone 8 specs with a grain of salt. The Inquisitr will continue to keep you in the loop for more news on these presumptive 2017 smartphones.

Meanwhile, courtesy of SuperSaf TV, here’s a comparison video of iPhone 7 and Galaxy S7, the current flagship offering from Apple and Samsung.

[Featured Image by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images]