Apple Takes Last-Minute Change of Course for In-Display Touch ID: Report

Apple is taking a last-minute change of course for its next iPhone’s fingerprint scanning components. According to a new report from DigiTimes, the company will use “Privaris glass identification technology” along with its in-house Authentec algorithm software for the iPhone 8’s Touch ID system.

Citing “industry sources,” the report suggests that the iPhone will use an ultrasonic fingerprint scanning system built into the display of the device, which will use an OLED screen. It will be produced “at TSMC’s 12-inch line using 65nm process technolog,” probably starting in September. Meanwhile, two other iPhone models with LCD screens will go into mass production this July.

There has been a lot of speculation about Apple’s plans for biometric authentication on the next major iPhone, with patents covering various potential systems adding fuel to the fire. Apple was recently granted a patent for a system that could enable fingerprint scanning across the entire iPhone screen using ‘biometric sensing pixels’, for example, while another patent described an ultrasonic scanning system that could be the basis for the one now reported by DigiTimes. Some also expect Apple to incorporate facial recognition in the new device.

At the same time, Samsung’s next major smartphone is expected to feature built-in iris scanning. It all suggests a kind of arms race between the major smartphone makers to get cutting-edge biometric authentication into their new devices as smartphones are used for increasingly sensitive data transactions among consumers.

Source: DigiTimes