Do TDDI Chips Mean the End of the Home Button?

[Maura]

According to a new report today from Taiwanese site DigiTimes, via MacRumors, Apple is looking to develop in-house a single-chip solution that would enable the integration of both touchscreen and display drivers on a single chip. The versatile touch and display driver integration (TDDI) chips would also enable Apple to finally do away with the home button by also including an integrated fingerprint sensor.

The single chip could also help Apple to make its forthcoming devices even thinner than currently.

TDDI is a very new technology, only being introduced by Synaptics earlier this year, following on from Synaptics acquiring chipmaker Renesas SP Drivers, which Apple was also apparently interested in acquiring last year.

MacRumors says that Synaptics was hoping to earn a place in Apple’s supply chain by acquiring Renesas SP Drivers, but it seems that Apple has decided to develop its own TDDI chips in-house, if this report is to be believed.

Source: Apple Looking to Eliminate Home Button on iOS Devices Integrate Touch and Display Driver Chips - Mac Rumors