iPhone 8 will completely transform the way people interact with their phones, Apple leak claims

The home button is gone, with a much longer screen in its place

(Getty)

The next iPhone might bring the most profound changes to how you use it since the first.

Apple has long been rumoured to be dropping the home button, lengthening the screen and introducing a range of other changes to the way the phone is designed. But those will be matched by equally profound alterations to how people actually use the phone, according to a new report.

Instead of the home button, there'll be a thin, software bar, according to the Bloomberg report. Users will press that instead of the real button to get back to the home screen – though they might not do that as much as usual, either.

That's because Apple will make it much easier to get to the multitasking screen, meaning that people using the new phone will flick between apps rather than repeatedly returning to the home screen.

Much of the design of the new phone had leaked after Apple accidentally uploaded secret software onto the internet. But it remained unclear how Apple would actually use the new phone, including how it would get around the large notch that stands out at the top of the display, and the button that is now missing from the bottom of it.

The new Bloomberg leaks suggest that Apple is planning on redesigning the way apps and the software is used and looks to make the most of the entirely new design of its top-of-the-range phone.

It's possible that the designs won't actually appear on the next phone, since Apple tends to try out a range of different designs, many of which never actually appear on the new mobile. But it appears clear that it will change the way the phone works in some fundamental way, to get around the new screen and the lack of the home button, both of which are all but definitely confirmed.

The notch at the top of the screen – which includes the facial recognition technology and the cameras – will not be hidden, according to the Bloomberg report. Instead, the company will put information either side of it, leaving the black part in the middle very obvious and central.

Sometimes, however, those bits of display either side of the screen will go black and so the notch will disappear. The way the new phone shows blacks is so convincing that it won't be possible to tell the difference between the black parts of the phone and those bits of the screen, the Bloomberg report claimed.

It will also integrate other changes to the iPhone 8, like the lengthening of the lock button on the side. That will make it easier to press since it will now be the primary way of stopping what you're doing on the phone, the leaks suggest.

As well as the iPhone 8, Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus at the event. Those will look much more like the existing iPhone 7 but feature new insides, according to numerous leaks.

The same event will see the introduction of a new Apple Watch and updated Apple TV. It is due to happen on September 12, according to numerous rumours.