Apple is in a tight fix this year when it comes to a key component of its anticipated new iPhone – biometric authentication – and it’s running out of time to find a good way out of it.
Here’s the rundown of Apple’s Touch ID dilemma:
Apple has pioneered mobile fingerprint authentication, and users of Apple Pay and other apps featuring Touch ID login now expect biometric authentication of some kind:
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Apple Pay Gets More Supporters in France, Italy and Spain
Citibank Deepens Commitment to Biometric Authentication With Touch ID
Now, Samsung is itself pioneering a new trend in smartphone design – full-sized displays:
Note 8 Renders Show S8-Influenced Design
Samsung Galaxy S8 Named Year’s Best Smartphone at MWC Shanghai
Apple wants to keep up with its rival and give the next iPhone a full-sized display, but moving Touch ID to the rear of the device isn’t an ideal solution. Meanwhile, third party sensor makers say that in-display fingerprint scanning is possible and already in the pipeline – but is it fast enough for Apple’s release schedule?
Goodix Announces World’s First In-Display Fingerprint Sensor
New Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors Can Scan Through OLED Display, Even Underwater
Apple Running Out of Time to Figure Out In-Display Touch ID: Report
Of course, fingerprint scanning isn’t the only option anymore for biometric authentication. Samsung is already leading the charge to iris-based authentication and even facial recognition, but Apple could leapfrog it with more sophisticated technology:
Samsung Aims to Enable IoT ‘Payment Ecosystem’ with Iris Biometrics
Samsung Facial Recognition Years Away from Payments Applications: Report
Next iPhone’s 3D Facial Recognition to Replace Touch ID: Report
And, as usual, Apple is keeping quiet about what it actually plans to do. What is clear is that the biometric ball is in Apple’s court.
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