Apple Highlights Touch ID on New Laptops, but Face ID is MIA

“While the new laptops’ announcement comes soon after the launch of a new iPhone commercial in which Apple touted Face ID as easier and more secure than Touch ID, it nevertheless emphasized Touch ID as a highlight of the new laptops’ features.”

Apple has updated its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, but still hasn’t brought its Face ID 3D facial recognition system to the devices.

An emphasis on the devices’ price points may be part of the reason. Face ID is reportedly an expensive system to implement in comparison to the Touch ID fingerprint scanning system it has replaced on recent iPhones; and in announcing its upgraded laptops, Apple emphasized the MacBook Air’s low price of $1,099 and $999 for students, and the MacBook Pro’s $1,299 price tag, reduced to $1,199 for students.

On a technical level, the devices’ upgrades are fairly minor. The MacBook Air now has True Tone functionality in its Retina display, which adjusts colors based on the ambient lighting in which the laptop is being used. The MacBook Pro, meanwhile, now has Apple’s 8th-generation quad-core processors, in addition to True Tone and the Apple T2 Security Chip.

While the new laptops’ announcement comes soon after the launch of a new iPhone commercial in which Apple touted Face ID as easier and more secure than Touch ID, it nevertheless emphasized Touch ID as a highlight of the new laptops’ features. Touch ID first came to the MacBook Pro back in 2016, and arrived on the MacBook Air last autumn, and Apple evidently still sees the technology as a differentiator in the laptop market.