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New photo claims to show iPhone 5S home button part, possibly pointing to fingerprint sensor

Screen Shot 2013-09-03 at 10.53.07 AM

New photos coming out today claim to show the flex cable and home button for the upcoming iPhone 5S. Although labeled as an iPhone 5C flex cable, this image points to an iPhone 5S part, not 5C. Of note here is the drastically different design when compared to both the iPhone 5 home button assembly and earlier iPhone 5S leaks, pointing to support for the much rumored fingerprint sensor...

We previously reported that  versions of iOS included references to a “biometric kit,” seemingly confirming a fingerprint sensor, and several reports have claimed similar. It’s still unknown as to how well such a fingerprint sensor would function, since statistics show that they tend to break down over time, but this newest leak adds fuel to the fire, if nothing else.

Screen Shot 2013-09-03 at 1.21.21 PM

Nowhereelse.fr has posted similar images of an iPhone 5S home button, which appear to be nearly identical to the one pictured above.

Apple will introduce the iPhone 5S at its September 10th media event. 

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Comments

  1. Ernie A Oporto - 11 years ago

    There is nothing on that button that says “fingerprint reader” to me.

    • Scott Buscemi - 11 years ago

      Added a new photo that shows it more.

      • Ernie A Oporto - 11 years ago

        OK that horizontal line may be a clue. Take a look at a laptop with a fingerprint reader. There is usually a piece of silicon that handles the reading and is flush with the surface of the device… unless Apple found a new way. What I’m really looking for is a connector on that button itself that would go to a reader chip – that might be purposely taken off. I agree though that the additional chip on the cable (like the background noise sensor) looks like it may handle a complex function like a fingerprint reader.

  2. standardpull - 11 years ago

    That’s quite a lot more sophisticated than the cable used for the iPhone5. It looks like the cable has 8 or 10 conductors on its cable and some attached electronics. In contrast, the iPhone 5 has a two conductor cable with nothing attached.

  3. mkimid - 11 years ago

    White square part will be folded on the button block (there are two holes for capacitors), and, button will be install top-down, it is why button block has frame and small round button.
    on the black square parts, there are some cooper contacts on edge, and ground on the corner.
    hole blocks will have around 2.0~2.2mm, and than, 1.8mm thickness sensor block can be on the black square part, Flat sensor with concaved(to inrease the contact surface) plastic molded sensor block can be used. in this case, 8.2~8.6mm diameter finger print area can be scannable. It is too small area.
    I just think, it just a capacitve home button scanner to detect the sliding of finger, and it can be used as a joystick or UI navigation, I think, it is more make sense.

  4. Brian Ernesto - 11 years ago

    That flat portion next to the button intrigues me. That looks like an antenna, or perhaps… NFC? Can one be that small?

  5. Dime09 (@dime09) - 11 years ago

    This will be the root of all the iphone 5s’s problems. Believe!

  6. markpetereit - 11 years ago

    My God! It’s full of stars!

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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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