Picked up by the ever-alert Patently Apple, Apple has quietly filed a patent which reveals its ambitious plans to bring Touch ID back to iPhones. And it works in a way, unlike anything iPhone owners have experienced before.
Taking inspiration from rivals, Apple has detailed how it will build Touch ID into the display of new iPhones by installing an array of pinhole cameras under the screen. Unlike rivals, however, Apple’s patent shows a touch area which fills the screen allowing users to place a finger anywhere to unlock their device. This is a major breakthrough given the unintuitive nature of textureless in-display readers compared to their physical predecessors.
In addition to this, the tech is clearly taking shape since Apple has included photographs of a working prototype. The furthest step yet for technology the company is clearly accelerating, with no less than four in-display Touch ID patent filings since December (1,2,3,4). Including how user fingerprints will not only be mapped, but 3D modelled.
Images from Apple’s new in-display Touch ID iPhone patent
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And even Face ID’s biggest fans should be excited. Firstly, the all-new Touch ID is not designed to replace Face ID but to augment it, giving users both an alternative unlock option as well as military grade security by combining both in hypersensitive situations. Yes, payments would be one example, but Apple is thinking bigger already having filed plans for iPhones to replace your passport and that’s where dual biometrics are crucial.
Excited? You should be. No, Apple’s ugly 2019 iPhones won’t get this but we are seeing more and more reasons why you should skip them anyway. Instead, the big 2020 redesign looks more likely. After all, Apple appears very keen for us to know about it.
[“source=forbes”]
