Several past rumors about Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) new iPhone 8 are converging into what could become a defining feature of the 10th anniversary device. A report from Bloomberg says AAPL will ditch its Touch ID fingerprint reader. Instead, the company will use new cameras and a powerful 3D sensor to support facial recognition as the new — and enhanced — biometric security system for the latest phone.
In the lead-up to AAPL’s big iPhone reveal in September, a number of reports have emerged from the company’s supply chain. With the new OLED display that’s expected to be virtually bezel-free — and eliminates the Home button — Apple designers are left with two choices: embed the Touch ID sensor under the display or put it on the back of the new iPhone. There has been persistent chatter that Apple is having technical difficulties in embedding a Touch ID sensor in the display of the iPhone 8.
Avoiding Samsung’s Mistake
Samsung Electronic (OTCMKTS:SSNLF) already used the move-the-fingerprint-scanner strategy with its Galaxy S8. The result isn’t pretty, with many users complaining the sensor’s proximity on the smartphone’s back to the camera leads to a smudged lens. The placement is also inconvenient and requires a cutout in any protective case. Apple seems unlikely to choose this route, if there’s any way to avoid doing so.
There have also been rumors that the iPhone 8 will be equipped with a revolutionary new camera, said to integrate advanced 3D sensing technology from a number of suppliers, including facial recognition capability from by Metaio, a 2015 AAPL acquisition.
Individually, these rumors paint an interesting picture of the potential of the iPhone 8; but they also illustrate the challenges that AAPL is having in pushing its vision for a flagship smartphone that sets a new standard for being “all screen” and no wasted space.
Bloomberg’s iPhone 8 Touch ID Report
Bloomberg published a report on the latest iPhone 8 development, citing the usual “people familiar with the product.” Bloomberg’s sources suggest that those two previous iPhone 8 rumors have now converged.
The company has apparently given up on integrating a fingerprint sensor under the OLED display of the iPhone 8, and it doesn’t want to stick it on the back of the new iPhone. At the same time, the new camera and 3D sensor are working together for rapid facial recognition capability. Because it uses three-dimensional imaging, the system can’t be fooled by a photo — an issue associated with Samsung’s Galaxy S8 iris scanner.
Apple’s solution at this point appears to be ditching Touch ID altogether with the iPhone 8, and instead going with facial recognition as its implementation of biometric security. Bloomberg’s sources say the system is more secure than Touch ID (it uses more recognition points than a fingerprint scan and could also potentially add eye scanning to the mix for even greater security), it’s more accurate, and it’s faster than Touch ID with facial recognition taking just a few hundred milliseconds.
AAPL first released its Touch ID fingerprint scanner with the iPhone 5s in 2013, making biometric security a key feature for its products and later incorporating that as a required component of Apple Pay. If the iPhone 8 adopts facial recognition instead, the move would solve that sensor location design problem for Apple, while offering a high tech selling point for its new iPhone. And even if facial recognition replaces fingerprint scanning on the iPhone 8, Touch ID will be far from dead –it will remain as the biometric security method on the iPhone 7s.
As of this writing, Brad Moon did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
