Accusations of Apple no longer being an innovator are of course nonsense, the company ushered in 64-bit chips, fingerprint sensors, and so on over the last two years. However, a new patent could be the most innovative thing Apple has done in some time as the company has filed a patent with the USPTO for a new version of the company’s iconic Home Button.
Love it or hate it, the home button has become synonymous with the iPhone and Apple has now found a way for it to double as a gaming joystick. That would give the Home Button triple functionality (home button, fingerprint sensor, joystick). The filing shows that the Home Button would be able to protrude from its seating by mere millimetres, thus making it a joystick for gaming. This patent has been around since 2013, so if Cupertino is putting it into action, we could see the fruits of that in next year’s iPhone 7. Does that mean this is the first iPhone 7 rumor? Maybe.
