Developer Resources Hint at OLED Bar, Touch ID for Next MacBook

Developer materials for macOS Sierra, the next major update of Apple’s operating system for Mac computers, offer hints of what’s to come with new Mac devices, reports 9to5Mac.

The developer resources for Apple’s APIs include bits of code referring to “LED” functions, suggesting that a future Mac device could feature the OLED touch bar predicted for the next MacBook Pro in a recent report from KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo.

Kuo, who has developed a reputation for possessing inside knowledge about forthcoming devices, also predicted that the next MacBook Pro will have Touch ID, Apple’s fingerprint scanning system; and indeed other lines of code on Apple’s API site for developers refer to functions involving “BiometricTapTracking” and “BiometricDoubleTap”.

While these hints are certainly not confirmation of any such features, they do track suspiciously well with Kuo’s recent predictions. And with respect to Touch ID specifically, Apple’s enthusiasm for the feature has been evident in its promotion of the iPhone’s Touch ID and via Apple Pay. With competitors like Microsoft increasingly seeking to implement biometric security in their own devices, the inclusion of Touch ID in a laptop or computer would appear to be a natural next step for Apple.

Source: 9to5Mac