14 DAY TRIAL // Reports from the Far East indicate that Apple will make its foray into biometrics with a fingerprint-reading display in its upcoming (but not confirmed) iPhone 5S. The phone will reportedly also employ an NFC chip for wireless payments.
The China Times report dishing out these rumors got picked up by Japan’s Macotakara, which thoughtfully provided a rough translation / interpretation that goes a bit like this.
“The the iPhone 5S outgoing will support NFC and fingerprint recognition, fingerprint is more security than passwords, fingerprints can not be copied and will not be stolen, most secure mobile payment device allows Apple iPhone 5S.”
Both the fingerprint authentication sensors and the NFC technology are reportedly coming from Taiwan’s Chipbond. TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) will reportedly handle the actual production of the chips.
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 5S at WWDC this summer with little to no changes in design.
Fingerprint recognition is certainly nothing new to consumer electronics, though the technology is yet to see widespread availability, especially in the smartphone space.
Using fingerprint sensors, a smartphone would be able to unlock certain functions for the owner, as well as lock these functions for strangers.
For instance, a widely reported passcode lock bug that Apple needs to fix in iOS 6.1.3 wouldn’t even exist, had Apple’s iPhones been using biometrics tech.
The same goes for NFC. While not new, Near Field Communication technology has yet to gain widespread adoption in the mobile world.
Apple is a primary candidate for capitalizing on the technology, as it has hundreds of millions of iTunes users with credit cards on file. Routing purchases through the service would spell tremendous profits for the Cupertino, California-based tech giant.
However, NFC also requires a separate antenna, which may prove tricky to implement in a metal enclosure. The upcoming iPhone 5S is believed to use the same aluminum case as the iPhone 5.