Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 13 this year, for which we have already started seeing tons of rumors and leaks. The most recent one suggests that the 2021 iPhone may finally see the re-entry of the Touch ID it dumped four years ago.
However, this will be in the form of an in-display fingerprint scanner, something which is quite popular in the Android ecosystem and has been in existence for a few years.
iPhone 13 to get both Touch ID + Face ID
Two former Apple employees (via the Wall Street Journal) have suggested that the Cupertino tech major is expected to incorporate an in-display fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 13. This addition will be alongside the iPhone’s proprietary Face ID, which makes use of a neural sensor and 3D scanner to map people’s faces.
The iPhone 13 is expected to get an optical in-display fingerprint scanner. For those who don’t know, an optical in-display fingerprint sensor captures the image of the finger and makes use of light to detect the fingerprint when the finger is placed on the sensor. The source of light over here is the screen that lights up when the finger is placed on the scanning area.
However, optical in-display fingerprinting isn’t as reliable as an ultrasonic one as it can be easily befooled and raises security concerns. Ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensors make use of sound waves to detect a person’s fingerprint and are touted as more secure options.
To sort the security issues and make Apple’s new Touch ID as reliable as the previous one or even on par with Face ID, the ex-Apple employee has suggested that the company could use optical sensors that can be more secure than the ultrasonic one.
Apple could also use the optical-capacitive hybrid sensors, which will include the goodness of both an optical sensor and a capacitive one. The optical part could help in faster unlocking of the device, while the capacitive part could make the whole system more secure. This, with the inclusion of Face ID, can make the usage far better than the current iPhones that only house facial recognition as biometric authentication.
This technically won’t mark the reintroduction of Touch ID, per se, for the type won’t be capacitive, which has been seen on previous iPhone models, including the iPhone SE 2020. However, it still can prove to be helpful in situations when the Face ID refuses to work. Such situations could include an extremely dark environment or when you are wearing a mask.
It remains unknown how Apple will make its version of an optical in-display fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 13 reliable and securer than the Android phones out there. Since Face ID is arguably good, we can expect something good out of the Apple basket in regards to Touch ID.
