Apple’s HomePod Code Seems to Refer to iPhone Facial Recognition

Lines of code for the firmware of Apple’s forthcoming smart home device, the HomePod, appear to offer further evidence that Apple is planning to incorporate infrared facial recognition into this year’s new iPhone.

Revealed in a tweet by developer Steve Troughton-Smith, the code features references to ‘face detection’ and ‘infrared capture’ with respect to a companion iPhone device. The code appears to refer to the system as ‘Pearl ID’ and also features references to Touch ID.

Meanwhile, another developer, Guilherme Rambo, tweeted about an icon he found in the HomePod documentation that appears to represent a largely bezel-less iPhone. The icon suggests that Apple has indeed abandoned the Home button of previous iPhone devices, but does little to clarify whether Apple is planning to also abandon Touch ID on the new iPhone, as references to Touch ID elsewhere in the code could be in place simply to support older iPhone models.

Apple hasn’t confirmed any of these features, of course, but the developer documentation for HomePod appears to offer the clearest indication yet that this year’s big new iPhone will include a facial recognition feature and an almost full-size display.

Sources: Business Insider, AppleInsider, UberGizmo