iPhone 7 rumours suggest handset will be small as iPod Touch, as iPhone 6s release date nears

The next phone is going to be the first to grow thicker — but that doesn’t represent the end of Apple’s aim to make everything as tiny as possible, according to new reports

Apple iPod touch handsets installed with Nanoveu's EyeFly3D plastic screen protectors show 3D content during the launch of the product in Singapore April 2, 2013 (REUTERS/Edgar Su)

The iPhone 7 will be as small as the iPod Touch — making it Apple’s thinnest phone by far.

The next iPhones — likely to be called the 6s and 6s Plus — haven’t been launched yet, and are expected to be unveiled at a grand event on Wednesday. But rumours are already swirling about the phone after that, likely to be called the iPhone 7.

The new phone will be much smaller than the previous phones, according to reports. But it is likely to have the same Force Touch technology and border around the screen that the existing handsets have.

The iPhone 7 will be between 6.0mm and 6.5mm, according to new leaks from reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The iPhone 6 is 6.9mm — and the new ones, due to be launched this week, are going to be even thicker.

The screen sizes are likely to stay the same.

To make sure that the phones can be so slim, the new phones will keep the “in-cell” way of making the touch panels on the front of the handset. That helps make phones small and thin — but it also means that they must have a bezel, or a slim border around the screen, meaning that Apple is unlikely to get rid of that this time around.

The company will also keep the same Force Touch technology that’s due to come to the iPhone 6s this week, according to the report. That is because suppliers and Apple have worked hard to bring the new developments, so the company will look to use it for at least two generations.

As the iPhone 7 leaks begin, almost everything about the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus appears to have already been revealed. The new phones will have pressure-sensitive displays, have slightly smaller batteries but not necessarily less battery life, better cameras and be slightly thicker — and launch alongside a new Apple TV and new iPads at an event on September 9.