14 DAY TRIAL // Apple’s 2018 iPhone lineup will include three different models, namely the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Plus, and a cheaper model, and all of them would give up on Touch ID.
Instead, the Cupertino-based tech giant would embrace Face ID facial recognition entirely, so all three devices would feature a notch and an edge-to-edge design.
And according to super-reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple isn’t planning to bring back fingerprint sensors anytime soon, with the 2019 lineup expected to be based on Face ID as well.
In a recent investor note, Kuo explains that adoption of fingerprint sensors embedded into the screen would increase by as much as 500 percent next year, but only thanks to Android manufacturers.
Samsung to adopt the new tech too
Interestingly, the analyst says that while such fingerprint scanning technology is evolving, the next and last stage for it is expanding it to cover the entire display.
This means users would technically be able to scan their fingerprints by simply touching the screen in any part, as compared to existing implementation which only works in a specific region of the display.
Samsung is the next big name to embrace fingerprint sensors integrated into the display with the release of the Galaxy S10 in the first quarter of 2019. The South Korean firm isn’t yet planning to invest in 3D sensing tech for more advanced facial recognition and wants to stick with fingerprint sensors because they’re still considered a more convenient approach.
And while Apple bets big on Face ID for the time being, there’s a chance that at some point in the future the company reconsiders its decision, but only after fingerprint sensors placed under the screen reach their maturity.
In other words, Apple is waiting for others to make the technology reliable enough for their phones and only then embrace it, just to make sure that everything’s working exactly as expected.