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Analyst: Under-screen Face ID unlikely to launch until iPhone 16 at the earliest

A report by The Elec from early today claims Apple will introduce an under-display Face ID sensor on the iPhone 15 Pro in 2023. DSCC analyst Ross Young, who has a great record of Apple leaks over the past months, contradicts the report and says the technology could land on iPhone 16 at the earliest.

Rumors about under-screen Face ID have been surfacing the web for a while. For the iPhone 14 Pro, for example, Apple will be able to add some sensors under the display and change the notch to a hole punch + pill cutout.

Then, for iPhone 15 lineup, The Elec reported that Apple would use Samsung technology to hide the Face ID sensor under the display in the next iPhone:

Samsung Display was currently developing a new under panel camera technology for its customer Apple to hide the Face ID under the display in the next iPhone, TheElec has learned.

Samsung Display’s technology is expected to apply first to Samsung Electronics’ foldable phones launching next year, followed by application to the Pro lineup on the iPhone 15 series, sources said.

DSCC’s roadmap for the future iPhones, on the other hand, shows that Apple would offer a different take for the iPhone 15 series by expanding the hole punch + pill cutout to all models, while the 2024 iPhone 16 could finally see under-display Face ID technology for the first time.

Here’s what DSCC Ross Young wrote on Twitter:

We reconfirmed again that there is not expected to be under panel IR for iPhones until 2024, iPhone 16. Gotta start the development and start submitting samples now though.

That said, although tests should start as early as 2022, don’t expect under-display facial recognition to land on iPhone before 2024.

To learn everything about the upcoming iPhone 14, don’t forget to check our full roundup here.

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