New report claims Apple is planning to give up on Touch ID

Jul 4, 2017 08:44 GMT  ·  By

Apple is projected to take the wraps off the iPhone 8 in September this year with some pretty big changes in terms of look and features, including some concerning the Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

If until now everyone seemed to point that the sensor would be embedded into the display, a report coming from Bloomberg and citing sources familiar with the matter indicates that Apple could give up on the fingerprint sensor entirely.

Instead of Touch ID, Apple could offer 3D facial recognition for unlocking devices and authorizing payments on the iPhone 8, though it’s not yet clear if the same change would be made on all upcoming iPhone models, including the 7s and 7s Plus.

Previous leaks have indicated that these two models would feature more subtle changes, and the Home button would live on, which means that Touch ID could still be there.

The iPhone 8 will come with a sensor bar at the top of the screen that will house the facial recognition cameras, a design that we’ve already seen in several leaked photos that reached the web lately.

Virtual home button without Touch ID

Apple removing the fingerprint sensor entirely aligns with information coming from Apple Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said that the iPhone 8 would indeed come with a virtual home button, but without a fingerprint reader. This means that Apple is either moving it elsewhere or removing it completely, and if the Bloomberg report is accurate, then the latter option is the one that Cupertino would embrace.

Integrating the fingerprint sensor into the screen seems to be a job that neither Apple nor Samsung can do right now, even though Chinese manufacturers have already demoed such technology.

Most likely, both Samsung and Apple are holding back such a feature because of other tech issues that could impact usability and security, so the two companies are trying to buy more time until the next-generation devices launch in 2018 to refine the tech.

The iPhone 8 is projected to launch in September, so Apple has less than 2 months to decide which way to go with the authentication system on the iPhone 8.