Touch ID is Apple’s fingerprint sensor built-in to the Home button that first debuted with the iPhone 5s. A year later Touch ID became an integral part of Apple Pay that launched just after the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and also came to the iPad Air 2. The first Mac to gain Touch ID was the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar in late 2016.
Conflicting reports have been plentiful this year as to how Apple will handle Touch ID with the iPhone 8 or whether face recognition may replace it altogether.
A new report today suggests that Apple is bringing back Touch ID to iPhones. Unlike a sketchier report last month, this one says that under-display Touch ID will not replace Face ID, but rather supplement it, with 2021 iPhones able to be unlocked using either method.
The report certainly cannot be dismissed out of hand. While analyst Ming-Chi Kuo doesn’t have a perfect track-record, he has a far better one than most. Deep dives into Apple’s supply-chain means that he often has visibility on upcoming developments…
In a sketchy report published on several Chinese media sites yesterday, including Mashdigi, Apple is purportedly considering to make a new iPhone model for the Chinese market, as it faces stiff price competition from domestic manufacturers like Oppo and Huawei.
Several months ago, we heard of the first known case of law enforcement requiring a suspect to unlock their phone with Face ID. Forbes reports today, however, that a California judge has ruled that, even with a warrant, the government can’t force people to unlock their devices via biometric features.
This time last year rumors that Apple might embed Touch ID in the iPhone X screen were fading but not totally gone. Now the customer response to Face ID on the iPhone seems to be good enough that facial recognition is expected to come to the iPad this year.
Fingerprint recognition still has benefits over Face ID in certain situations, however, so should we expect Touch ID to be part of future iPhone screens? Reliable supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo doesn’t think so.
We know from both a succession of patents and Apple statements that the company was exploring a Touch ID sensor embedded into the screen of the iPhone before it settled on Face ID for last year’s flagship iPhone …
A new web standard being recommended for adoption would open the way for both Face ID and Touch ID to be used to login to websites.
The API, known as WebAuthn, allows existing security devices – like fingerprint readers, cameras and USB keys – to be used for website authentication …
iPhone X owners with children have been complaining for a while about the impossibility of approving purchases using Face ID. While on devices with Touch ID it has always been possible to approve purchases using the biometric authentication, the feature had not been implemented for Face ID …
It was long-rumored that Apple was working on embedding Touch ID into the display of the iPhone X. The Cupertino company had multiple patents for different approaches to the task, and it confirmed after launch that it had been working on the technology.
Synaptics has now announced that it has put an in-display fingerprint sensor into mass-production for a ‘top 5’ Android smartphone manufacturer, under the branding Clear ID. The company isn’t saying who, but does reference ‘infinity displays,’ making Samsung a prime candidate.
But with Apple having instead opted for Face ID, my view is that offering an embedded fingerprint sensor as a competitive feature is too little, too late …
One thing really jumped out at me yesterday reading Mashable’s early review of the iPhone X, and that was Apple’s response to a query by Lance Unlanoff.
One important limitation of Face ID: It only lets you register one face. That may strike many as unnecessarily limiting since Touch ID lets users register up to 10 [sic] fingerprints, but Apple says it found the number of people who register more than one person’s fingerprints is miniscule.
The idea that hardly anyone registers more than one person’s fingerprint didn’t ring true to me, and our poll shows that it’s not true for 9to5Mac users at least …
With early reviewers finding that Face ID on the iPhone X is mostly reliable, if not perfect, the transition from fingerprints to face may not be too big a deal. But there is one clear drawback compared to Touch ID: you can only register one face.
With Touch ID, you can register multiple fingers – which can include a partner or child, for example – but Apple chose not to allow this with faces. The company told Mashable that’s because only a ‘miniscule’ number of people do this.
But that sounds odd to me …
Apple yesterday shared details of how face recognition works on the iPhone X, but one thing that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves is how Apple future-proofed its iOS authentication from the start.
This future-proofing is why all Touch ID enabled apps will automatically authenticate with Face ID without requiring developers to update …
iOS 11 beta 6 (released earlier this week) includes a new feature to quickly disable Touch ID from the lock screen. Tapping the lock button five times to access the SOS screen or opening a Medical ID will cause the iPhone or iPad to temporarily reject all Touch ID attempts, requiring a passcode to unlock.
We have confirmed with sources that this behavior is intentional rather than a bug, as well as some explanation as to why it was added. Whilst in theory it can be used to prevent law enforcement from compelling suspects to unlock their device with fingerprint, it also helps protect people who have fallen unconscious…
Barron’s is claiming that Apple still hasn’t finalized its authentication plans for the iPhone 8, and has ‘just weeks’ to decide whether or not to include a Touch ID module embedded into the display.
“Apple continues to struggle with the workaround for the fingerprint sensor,” writes Hargreaves, “This increases the potential that the new OLED iPhone could be delayed, or ship without a fingerprint sensor, either of which could increase risk to unit sales and mix for the cycle.”
The report even suggests that the flagship phone could launch without support for Apple Pay …
There are few analysts with as good a track record as KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo when it comes to Apple. His close links to companies in Apple’s supply-chain puts him in a good position to judge what is and isn’t on the way when it comes to new products.
But having a good track record isn’t the same as being right every time, and his latest report – that the iPhone 8 will drop Touch ID altogether – seems questionable to me …
Qualcomm has demonstrated a working under-display fingerprint reader, lending confidence to the idea that Apple will have its own version ready for the iPhone 8.
So far, the idea of embedding a fingerprint reader into the display of a device has been the stuff of patents and promises. The closest we’ve got to a working product was when Xiaomi showed off a very early version of the tech on a phone launched last year …
A series of apparent iPhone 8 leaks still haven’t answered one of the biggest questions about this year’s flagship iPhone: will the fingerprint sensor be embedded into the display?
We know that Apple has numerous patents for this type of embedded fingerprint technology, and it also appears clear that the display will occupy almost the entire front face of the device, but some claimed leaks do show a fingerprint sensor on the back of the case. I’ve discussed a third option, where a Touch Bar element appears to be part of the display, and a patent published today raises a fourth possibility …
The law lags badly behind technology in a great many areas. One area where there is still huge uncertainty is whether the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination protects someone who refuses to disclose the passcode to their phone.
We’ve seen conflicting rulings in the past, and a Miami report shows that rulings may even vary between courts in the same state …
The latest in a long line of will-they/won’t-they reports on Touch ID embedded into the display of the iPhone 8 says yes – but there have been so many conflicting reports, it remains an unknown for now.
Conflicting reports have suggested that Touch ID could be moved to the back of the iPhone or even dropped altogether in favor of face-recognition.
Some have suggested that Apple could move Touch ID to the power button, but it seems unlikely this would offer sufficient surface area for the type of sophisticated sensor used in existing iPhones …
Apple has today been granted patents for two headline features expected from the iPhone 8: an edge-to-edge display, and a Touch ID button embedded into the screen.
The edge-to-edge display patent has the rather mundane heading ‘Reducing the border area of a device.’ It describes how a mostly-flat display can have a curved border area allowing it to wrap around the sides of the device …
I’ve been giving more thought to the issue of how Apple might embed Touch ID into the display of the iPhone 8. So far, the various reports and rumors have focused on two possibilities: one hi-tech, one low-tech.
The hi-tech approach would be to embed a fingerprint reader beneath the display. We know from the sheer volume of Apple patents that Apple has plenty of ideas about how this might be achieved – but there’s a massive difference between a concept and a finished product. Indeed, there’s a huge gap between a fully-working prototype and something that works in volume production. If the rumors are to be believed, Apple has struggled to achieve this.
The low-tech approach would be to take the same route as many Android brands and simply move the Touch ID sensor to the rear of the casing. I’ve discussed previously why I think this would be a terrible idea, and the most recent reports do suggest Apple is not taking this approach.
But it strikes me that there’s a third possibility here. What might be termed a ‘mid-tech’ approach …
We’ve seen a whole bunch of rumors of late suggesting that while Apple really wants to embed a fingerprint reader into the display of the iPhone 8, it is struggling to do so.
The notion that Apple wants to use an embedded fingerprint reader seems abundantly clear. As I’ve mentioned before, we’ve had multiple reports from credible sources like Bloomberg, the WSJ and the New York Times. The claimed schematics and sketches have also all illustrated a design without any space for a Touch ID sensor at the bottom of the screen, and the volume of Apple patents makes it clear the company has been working hard on figuring out how to do it.
But, unusually for Apple, this is bleeding-edge technology. The company usually lets other manufacturers figure out the kinks in new tech before it launches later with a version that does the job properly. This is the reason it’s being suggested that the company may need a Plan B or even a Plan C …
iPhone 8 render without front Touch ID
Recent conflicting reports suggest Apple has not yet finalized the design of the flagship iPhone 8 this year in terms of how Touch ID will be implemented. If Apple introduces a new edge-to-edge display as expected, Touch ID will have to change from its bottom front location as the chin is dramatically reduced.
The best case scenario based on rumors is that Apple manages to implement the fingerprint scanner into the new OLED display, although low yield rates may rule that out this year. The less desired scenario is Apple moves Touch ID to the backside like Android phones today.
Now an analyst has floated what would likely be an even less popular scenario: no Touch ID.
The last time a sketchy report suggested that Apple was planning to move the Touch ID sensor to the rear of the iPhone 8, I wrote an opinion piece saying that I didn’t believe Apple was dumb enough to do it. I set out the four reasons I didn’t expect it to happen.
Alongside multiple reports of a Touch ID sensor embedded in the screen, and supporting patents for the required technology, I felt there were two reasons in particular to doubt the idea …
