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Sketchy photos want you to believe Touch ID is coming to the new iPads

Screen Shot 2013-10-19 at 6.35.01 PM

Independent reports from CTechCn and 2014 News claim that Touch ID, which debuted last month in the iPhone 5s, will make its way to the iPad 5 and iPad mini 2. The new Apple tablets are scheduled to be announced this upcoming Tuesday at Apple’s media event.

Of course, both sets of photos should not be taken as confirmation, and the authenticity of neither set can be verified. Photos like these are extremely easy to spoof, so their legitimacy is up in the air. With a little bit of research, it’s easy to spot some questionable JPEG artifacts and possible color inaccuracies, especially on the gold model.

Screen Shot 2013-10-19 at 6.34.44 PM

The first photo, depicting the iPad mini 2, shows what looks like a gold color option as well as the inclusion of the Touch ID sensor. Besides some color distortion, it appears that the bezel around the iPad may not even be gold, or it is a lighter shade than the color surrounding the Home button. Additionally, whether or not it’s actually feasible for Apple to bring such new technology to the iPad mini is another question altogether. Also, an analyst today claimed that the new iPads will not even come in gold. 

The other photos (included below), show the full-sized 9.7″ iPad 5 also sporting the Touch ID sensor, and the space gray color option. Again, it’s not clear whether or not Apple could pull off adding Touch ID to its iPad line and maintain their historically high profit margins. It’s also unclear if the sapphire-crystal Touch ID sensors are even high enough in supply to be viable for devices this year other than the iPhone 5s.

Last but not least, we see the iPad mini 2 pictured again in space gray, but this time without a Touch ID sensor. Reports have indicated that Apple may be planning to ship both an iPad mini 2 with a Retina display and one without. A lower end iPad mini would likely sacrifice the Touch ID sensor to hit a lower price point.

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Comments

  1. weakguy - 10 years ago

    I really hope this is true!

  2. rogifan - 10 years ago

    Why do you guys post photos these photos if you’re that skeptical about them being legit?

    • lexxkoto - 10 years ago

      The same reason anybody publishes anything: page views, advertising revenue and comments.

  3. Marcin Michalski - 10 years ago

    I’m thinking that putting Touch ID on all of their iDevices seems natural. It would be odd to just see iPhone 5S with it.

  4. PMZanetti - 10 years ago

    Apple spent $400 million to acquire the IP and who knows who much more in 2 years of development of Touch ID…

    They can’t afford to roll it in to all product lines until its paid for. The iPhone is capable of making that happen. iPads are trickier. If anything, the full-size iPad is a candidate. But the already very inexpensive mini is completely off the table for Touch ID.

    This is just common sense business.

    • rogifan - 10 years ago

      I wouldn’t consider the iPad mini “very inexpensive”.

      • Adam Markon (@amarkon88) - 10 years ago

        In absolute terms you’re correct, but that’s like building your own high-end desktop for half the price you would pay in-store and saying “well it’s still expensive.” However, when you consider what you can do with an iPad mini and how little you have to pay for it, I’d say PMZanetti is right, it’s very inexpensive.

      • OneOkami (@OneOkami) - 10 years ago

        Me neither.

    • Dss33 (@Dss33) - 10 years ago

      I don’t think it has to do as much with cost as production yield. That being said…

      The iPhone 5S costs the same to make as last year’s iPhone 5 (http://allthingsd.com/20130924/teardown-analysis-shows-iphone-5s-costs-at-least-199-to-build-173-for-the-5c/) which would lead me to believe that 1) the TouchID sensor isn’t hugely expensive – it was important to AuthenTec to produce a sensor that was both inexpensive and accurate – and 2) they’ve reduced costs on the other parts enough to cover the increase of cost of TouchID versus the generic home button of the iPhone 5.

      My take – there’ve been rumors around the current iPad mini sticking around and I can only see that playing out one way. The 2012 mini stays essentially as is (maybe a few slight upgrades) and price drops to $299 for the 16GB. They then introduce the new iPad mini with both retina display and TouchID for maybe $399 as the “pro” model.

  5. Casey Parker - 10 years ago

    its clearly fake because theres no official inscription of where its made and other printed facts

Author

Avatar for Michael Steeber Michael Steeber

Michael is a Creative Editor who covered Apple Retail and design on 9to5Mac. His stories highlighted the work of talented artists, designers, and customers through a unique lens of architecture, creativity, and community.

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