14 DAY TRIAL // Apple’s anniversary iPhone 8 is certainly one of the most anticipated smartphones of this year, but analysts have come to believe that the Cupertino-based company is uncertain about the position of the Touch ID sensor on the new device.
A recently leaked batch of images seems to depict the rear panel of the iPhone 8 and sheds light on the location of the Touch ID. The renders were posted on China’s biggest social network, Weibo, and they should certainly be taken with a grain of salt. Still, they appear to be based on allegedly leaked schematics.
That being said, the images show that Apple may have settled for a rear-mounted Touch ID, after some have claimed that the company encountered issues with integrating the fingerprint sensor below the display. For the same reason, Samsung incorporated the fingerprint sensor on the back of the Galaxy S8, instead of underneath the screen.
Apple’s AuthenTec unit has been facing very low yields with the technology and Apple would rather delay it until 2018 than contract a third-party manufacturer. However, some analysts went so far as to say that Apple could ditch Touch ID entirely from the iPhone 8, but that’s highly unlikely.
It’s also worth mentioning that the position of the Touch ID revealed in the render seems to be a better fit compared to the fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy S8, which could lead to some users smudging the rear camera while attempting to unlock their phone.
iPhone 8 with aluminum back panel
The Touch ID on the alleged iPhone 8 case render is located much lower than the vertical dual-camera setup, as opposed to the horizontal dual-lens setup on the iPhone 7 Plus. In addition, the body of the new smartphone is very similar to that of the iPhone 5 or iPhone SE, but it will have a much larger OLED display.
The back case seems to be made out of aluminum and the render refutes previous rumors which revealed a design with glass front and back, as there are no mounting points for the back glass plate.
