The name of an upcoming iPhone expected to launch later this month with Touch ID on board was leaked by Apple this week on a page on the company’s site advertising a screen protector for the device.
The ‘iPhone SE’, as it appears to be called, will be released by Apple as a low-cost addition to its smartphone lineup and appears poised to signal the return of Touch ID for biometric authentication.
According to several reports from recent weeks, the new iPhone SE will look identical to 2017’s iPhone 8, complete with a physical home button, which means Touch ID will make it’s return.
The iPhone 8 series was launched alongside the more attention-grabbing iPhone X, with the two devices signifying the end of Touch ID and the introduction of Face ID, respectively.
That Apple appears to be choosing to go back to Touch ID for the new iPhone SE is significant in that it may signal a future where both forms of biometric authentication are available on one device for a truly multimodal form of security.
It may also simply be a way to win over some customers who may have never warmed to using Face ID, or the notched design that came with it.
A recent patent filed by Apple also indicated a possible future Apple Watch with Touch ID as well, though as is the case with most patents, it may never come to fruition.
The launch date for the new phone has yet to be determined, though as mentioned above it is expected to be sometime later this month and will be sold entirely online due to the COVID-19 outbreak .
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