14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is reportedly facing issues with the production of the bezel-less iPhone 8. The smartphone is said to introduce lots of new features and a smoother design that ditches the physical home button. Therefore, Apple intends to incorporate Touch ID technology directly under the display.
But there are some issues with this move, and analyst Timothy Arcuri of Cowen and Company states that Apple has been facing some yield issues with the iPhone 8, according to Apple Insider. The report reveals that Apple has encountered issues with integrating the under-glass fingerprint sensor into the display, while "the current yield rate of Apple's in-house AuthenTec solution remains low and AAPL seems unwilling to use other vendors' products," Arcuri stated.
The analyst found three possible solutions that Apple could adopt if the issue with the fingerprint scanning technology cannot be resolved. The first requires Apple to ditch Touch ID entirely and rely only on facial recognition technology, but that seems very improbable.
Apple could relocate the Touch ID on the back of the iPhone 8
The second course of action that Apple could take is to move the Touch ID to the back of the iPhone 8, the same strategy that Samsung followed with its Galaxy S8 flagship. The South Korean company and fingerprint supplier Synaptics encountered problems with integrating the sensor below the display and decided to feature it on the back side instead.
The third solution for Apple would be to delay production of the iPhone 8, but still announce the anniversary smartphone during the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus unveiling. The analyst also added that it’s unlikely for 3D sensors to delay the production of the iPhone 8, but rather the fingerprint scanning technology.
The iPhone 8 is also expected to come with wireless charging and an edge-to-edge OLED display. Considering recent reports on the matter, we expect the iPhone 8 to be announced together with the other two iPhone 7s devices, but the anniversary phone could go on sale later than the successors to last year’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.