iPhone 13 Touch ID is it time for an in-screen fingerprint sensor?;
Date:
Sun, 04 Jul 2021 06:00:01 +0000
Description:
Will in-screen Touch ID come to the iPhone 13? Here's all we've heard suggesting it will and some rumors saying it won't.
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One of the most exciting rumors weve heard about the upcoming iPhone 13 is a feature Android phones have had for years: an in-screen fingerprint sensor.
So how likely is Apples next flagship phone to get it?
Weve heard so many rumors that Touch ID is coming back to iPhones that it feels like a question of when, not if. But it could be coming in 2022 or later, as a couple other predictions suggest.
Apple switched away from fingerprint sensors in its flagship phones when it introduced the iPhone X in November 2017, and its priciest phones have relied solely on facial recognition since. While Face ID has been very accurate and dependable for unlocking and secure authentication for apps, users have
wanted an alternate method for years a murmur which rose to a clamor in 2020 as widespread mask usage obscured its use.
While Apple did release a fix for the issue in iOS 14.5 using a paired
Apple Watch to unlock your iPhone it was barely a half-measure, since it doesnt authenticate for app functionality and requires a pricey wearable,
too. In-screen Touch ID wouldnt just be helpful in the current still-masked climate, but is just genuinely useful when facial recognition is too awkward. Dont take our word for it ask any Android user, or the many iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 owners who arent upgrading because they dont want to lose Touch ID.
Given the persistent demand for an in-screen fingerprint sensor in a new flagship iPhone, how likely is it to arrive in the iPhone 13? (Image credit: TechRadar) Why in-screen Touch ID could be coming to iPhone 13
Granted, weve been hearing rumors that iPhones will get in-screen Touch ID
for years, including one in September 2019 saying the iPhone 12 would get the feature but even that leak suggested it could come in the 2021 phones (aka the iPhone 13) instead.
Since then, other rumors have claimed that the iPhone 13 will get in-screen Touch ID in October 2020, leakers suggested MESA uts was coming to iPhones, with MESA being a keyword for Touch ID and uts for under the screen.
The rumors continued into 2021, with a Bloomberg report in January suggesting the feature was coming in the iPhone 13. Another leak suggested the upcoming iOS 15 , which is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 13, supports dual biometric authentication through both Touch ID and Face ID. This will exclusive to Apples next flagship phone, implying that it will get in-screen fingerprint scanning.
Various Apple patents suggest the feature is coming, like a couple filed in July 2020 for an Optical-Fingerprint Detection System which at least suggests the company is seriously investigating the tech and, conceivably, integrating it into its phones.Another patent also suggests that the cameras could get subepidermal imaging to scan the veins under the skin as an even more robust authentication, though it seems linked to Face ID rather than fingerprint sensing.
Other rumors cite analysts with knowledge of Apples supply chain, who claim the feature is coming in the iPhone 13, and will not only keep Face ID but improve it with other leaks suggesting the front-facing cameras will be hidden under the display, too, to finally get rid of the notch. (Image
credit: Future) Why in-screen Touch ID could wait til the iPhone 14 or later
Other rumors, like one from early 2021 citing Apple employees who spoke with the Wall Street Journal , still suggest in-screen fingerprint sensors are coming to flagship iPhones, but dont specify a timeframe. The feature will arrive, but maybe not for a while.
Other rumors are more specific that the feature wont come in the iPhone 13. Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted in-screen Touch ID will come in
the 2022 line of iPhones, which presumably means the iPhone 14, though it could also include a mid-range successor to the iPhone SE 2020 .
Clearly, the rumors favor the feature coming to the iPhone 13, but that also reflects the nature of rumors themselves, which often correctly predict the existence of an upcoming feature but get the timeframe wrong. There are
plenty of reasons in-screen Touch ID could skip the iPhone 13 but arrive in the iPhone 14, like if Apple isnt done implementing the tech, or runs into supply and manufacturing issues.
Or Apple could just hold off on the feature because the company is never in a particular rush to jump on novel technology, with a tendency to let others debut and iterate new things only for Apple to then develop its own very refined version that becomes the new standard when its released years later. Apple did this with true wireless earbuds (AirPods), tablets (iPads), and
even the smartphone itself, making touchscreen-dominant design the market
norm when it released the first iPhone in 2007.
If Apple waits until 2022 to implement in-screen Touch ID, it wont turn
people off of the iPhone 13. The phone range will likely sell well, given the success and sales of the iPhone 12 and all the flagship iPhones before it.
But if this years Apple flagships have the feature, it could convince Touch
ID holdouts to make the jump and join the modern generation of smartphones. Stay on top of tech news with the TechRadar newsletter
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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/news/iphone-13-touch-id-is-it-time-for-an-in-screen- fingerprint-sensor/
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