Apple is ditching Touch ID and bringing its new Face ID facial recognition system to next year’s iPad, according to a new Bloomberg report.
Citing unnamed “people familiar with the matter,” the report asserts that Apple essentially wants to adapt the key design elements that make the new iPhone X stand out to its flagship tablet device – thinner edges and a full-size screen. The latter feature is supported, of course, by Apple’s new infrared facial recognition system, which in the iPhone X has allowed Apple to abandon the Touch ID button usually on the front of its mobile devices, freeing up more space for the screen.
The report comes after renowned industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who had said in September that Apple would wait to see how consumers respond to Face ID before committing to bringing the system to new devices, affirmed last month that Apple is indeed planning a definitive switch from fingerprint recognition to facial recognition on all of its iPhones for next year. While Bloomberg had previously published a report, based on a single anonymous source, suggesting that Apple had diminished the security of Face ID to meet its production schedule, the iPhone X has proven to be a big market hit for Apple, and reviewers have generally attested to the reliability and ease of use of its facial recognition system.
While Bloomberg now expects Face ID to make its way to the iPad, the next iPad’s screen is unlikely to be of the same quality as those of the iPhone X and the iPhone X Plus. Those devices’ OLED screens are sharper than the standard LCDs found on many other smartphones, but Bloomberg says that right now only Samsung is in a position to deliver OLED screens in time for the production schedule of a 2018 iPad, and all of that supplier’s OLED resources are currently devoted to meeting production demands for the iPhone X devices.
Still, the new iPad is likely to feature an improved processor and custom GPU, and Bloomberg also reports that Apple is working on a new version of its stylus for the device, which could offer an additional incentive for consumers keen on Apple’s new big-screen approach to design, and its Face ID authentication system. The device is expected to arrive on store shelves next autumn.
Sources: Bloomberg, TechRadar, Patently Apple
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