iPhone 7: Force Touch to be built in to Apple's next phone

Technology makes screen into one big button

The Touch ID of an Apple iPhone 6 Plus gold, is shown here at a Verizon store on September 18, 2014 in Orem, Utah (Getty Images)

The next iPhone will have technology that will let it know how hard its screen is being pressed, and turn it into one big button, according to reports.

Apple’s next phone – likely called the iPhone 6S or iPhone 7 – will have Force Touch technology, first launched in the Apple Watch, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The company is also considering new colours for the phone, alongside the current grey, silver and gold options.

The Force Touch technology will allow a new way of interacting with the phone, alongside the current swipes and taps. On the Apple Watch, it allows the screen to act like another button – with long presses bringing up extra options on the screen – and some rumours have already suggested that will be used in the camera app.

The WSJ report chimes with previous rumours, which have suggested that either the next iPhone or its successor would have the technology built in. It also fits with Apple’s apparent strategy to put Force Touch into all of its devices – it was introduced in the Apple Watch, and has already been integrated into Apple’s MacBook.

The screen sizes will stay the same in the next iPhone, according to the WSJ. Apple currently makes a phablet-sized iPhone 6 Plus, the iPhone 6 and a smaller iPhone 5S – it’s unclear whether the latter form factor will be a part of the new line-up.

It isn’t expected that the next phone will include any significant new external design changes, meaning that it is likely to be called iPhone 6S. It is expected to be released in September.