Apple iPhones in 2021 will have Face ID and in-display Touch ID fingerprint sensors. (Image source: Reuters)Apple’s iPhone lineup for 2021 could offer two forms of biometrics, one of which will be placed under the display, according to noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF international securities. Kuo who is known for accurate predictions around Apple’s upcoming and future products made the claim in a report, which has been accessed by 9to5Mac.
Kuo has stated that Touch ID will return to the iPhones in 2021, but under the display. Face ID will remain, though not under the display. According to Kuo, Apple’s want to unify the Touch and Face ID experiences. According to the report, there are some technological challenges for Apple when it comes to implementing the in-display fingerprint scanner.
The report notes these problems include “power consumption, size of the sensing area, thickness of the sensing module, and the production yield rate of the lamination process.” He thinks Apple will fix the problems by 2020, which means 2021 cycle will see these being implemented. According to Kuo, Apple will use a “variant of Qualcomm’s ultrasonic fingerprint-under-display system.”
The report also notes that Apple has been filing patents on under-display fingerprint recognition technologies.
What is an in-display fingerprint sensor?
Apple is certainly taking its time to implement an in-display fingerprint sensor, a technology which has become quite common. But then Apple has never been about following the market trend. Rather it adopts a technology only when it has been perfected. Still rivals like Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, OnePlus have all implemented some form of this technology on their smartphones.
As Kuo’s report notes Apple is still trying to solve some technical challenges. Keep in mind there are different kinds of in-display fingerprint scanners. The optical variant, which we saw on phones like OnePlus 6T, captures an image of your fingerprint and then match it each time the finger is placed on the screen. The drawback is these are using a 2D image, and can be fooled with good quality pictures of the fingerprint.
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In contrast, ultrasonic fingerprint sensors like on the Samsung Galaxy S10, which is the only phone to offer one, use soundwaves to scan the fingerprint. This ensures a much more comprehensive 3D mapping, capturing all details on the finger. They are also supposed to be more secure, but are not as fast when it comes to unlocking the device.
One problem with the in-display fingerprint sensors, even the existing ones is that some can be quite slow and there is a high error rate. If the finger is wet or the screen is wet, it can be challenge to get a quick response. Sometimes the in-display scanner gives an error saying the finger moved too fast and they are unable to unlock the device, which can annoying for customers.
Screen protectors, especially good quality tempered glass also becomes a problem on devices with in-display fingerprint sensors. Some phones will warn that using a screen protector will impact the working of this feature.
For Apple, it will be crucial that when it adopts this technology it works smoothly and without any flaws, which explains why it is taking its time to go this route.
