Analyst: Next iPhone to have Convex Home Button to Create Space for Fingerprint Sensor

In a note to investors, KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo (via 9to5mac) is reporting that the next-generation iPhone (iPhone 5S) will feature a sapphire fingerprint reader home button that will no longer be plastic and concave but actually protrude slightly from the iPhone in a convex manner.

According to KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo:

Convex home button creates space for fingerprint sensor; yield to improve. We think that a fingerprint sensor will be placed under the home button of iPhone 5S. However, assembling it could be difficult as the space under home button is limited as it already has to accommodate the Lightning connector, speaker and microphone. Thus, we think the shape of the home button could be changed from concave to convex to create more space for a fingerprint sensor.

Sapphire prevents home button from being scratched. A convex home button could be more easily scratched, so a harder material is required. We believe Apple will switch from plastic to sapphire, whose hardness is second only to diamond. Sapphire would protect the home button from being scratched and the fingerprint sensor from being damaged.

Design advantage of fingerprint reader on iPhone is ease of use. Unlike Android phones and Windows Phone, iPhone has only one home button on its cover glass. This design is intuitive for the behavior of using fingerprint sensor as users won’t be confused as to where to put on their finger.

Advantages in both technology & design. We think iPhone will continue to lead Android phones and Windows Phone by a wide margin in fingerprint sensing technology and design. As such, Apple will likely be able to offer users a more secure and more intuitive way to conduct mobile payment transactions and access cloud computing services, thereby strengthening advantages of the ecosystem.