The elimination of the Home button would mean the removal of a function that has been there since the first iPhone in 2007.

These rumours come from the well-sourced Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst for KGI securities (who also acts as an Apple analyst), via MacRumors.

There is said to be a new phone with a 5.8-inch OLED screen (2800x1242), but with a 5.15-inch useful screen size, with the rest of the screen used for virtual buttons at the bottom.

More and more rumours are being heard about the iPhone 8 as the time for its arrival nears.

Kuo believes the phone "will come with other biometric technologies that replace the current fingerprint recognition technology", though it’s not clear what those technologies could be.

IRIS scanning recognition is one possibility, though it has not been suggested.

Kuo notes that the 5.8-inch OLED device is likely to have a similar footprint as the 4.7-inch TFT-LED iPhone (like the current iPhone 7), though with a larger display and battery life comparable to a larger 5.5-inch TFT-LCD iPhone (like the current iPhone 7 Plus).

Earlier rumours have suggested that Apple may include curved screens in its 2017 iPhone line-up, with the possibility of three different phones: two 5.5-inch models and a smaller 4.7-inch model.

A recently granted Apple patent showed a method by which Apple could embed a Touch ID fingerprint sensor right in the screen, while a note from Kuo last month said that Apple was exploring changes to Touch ID.

Apple has refused requests for comment.