Apple’s iPhone 6s is a runaway success and, despite the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus having been available for less than a month, rumors regarding next year’s iPhone, presumably called the iPhone 7, are already doing the rounds.

Adding the iPhone 7 rumor mill, renowned Piper Jaffray’s analyst, Gene Munster, has now shared his predictions on Apple’s plans for its next iPhone.

In a note to investors earlier this week, Munster claimed that the 2016 iPhone 7 will get a complete design overhaul. Specifically, Munster said that Apple may do away with the Home button, increase the screen size, improve the battery life, and finally switch to sapphire for the screen.

No Home button for iPhone 7

Thanks to 3D Touch, Apple’s retooled Force Touch technology for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, a physical Home button may no longer be needed on future iPhones.

“As many have speculated, the addition of 3D Touch may provide Apple with a way to eliminate the home button on the phone,” wrote Munster.

Muster thinks Apple may have to separate Touch ID from the Home button by moving it elsewhere on the iPhone 7, but he’s not overly confident that this will be the case.

“One barrier to this [removing the Home button] could be Touch ID, which is integrated into the home button currently. Apple would need to move the Touch ID reader to potentially the side of the phone to remove the home button,” speculated Munster.

“We believe a home-buttonless iPhone has a 50 percent chance for the iPhone 7,” he added.

Bigger screen, smaller iPhone 7

Should Apple ditch the physical Home button on the iPhone 7, Munster thinks the company could use the extra space to either “make the screen bigger or make the device smaller.”

This could allow Apple to get back to one-handed use it touted so heavily before jumping on the bigger screen bandwagon with the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus.

Longer battery life

Citing Apple’s work on improving the battery life of its MacBook range, Munster thinks the next iPhone will also get a big focus on improved battery life.

“Another area on which we believe Apple may focus is battery life. Looking at Macs over the past few years, Apple has close to doubled battery life for its Macbook line up (largely 5-hour battery to ~10 hours). It has achieved this through more efficient processors and software,” he wrote. “We believe battery life is one of the biggest areas of potential improvement and one that might be most welcomed by customers.”

Sapphire screen

Apple has used the stronger 7000-series aluminum from the Apple Watch for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Muster predicts the company may do the same with the sapphire screen from its wearable.

“Finally, a sapphire screen has long been rumored for the iPhone. Since Apple now uses sapphire on the Apple Watch, it could make sense for them to adapt it to the phone. We note that Apple is using the stronger aluminum from the Apple Watch Sport for the iPhone 6S case,” he concluded.

Image credit: PROKārlis Dambrāns via Flickr