Report: This Year’s iPhones May Have On-Screen Touch ID

This weekend, the Bloomberg trade publication posted a plethora of articles sharing details on various upcoming Apple products. We’ve already covered what Bloomberg sources have said about the Mac lineup, but another report details upcoming iPhones.

According to “a person familiar with” Apple’s work, the 2021 iPhone will be a small iterative update and may carry the “S” label, which Apple has used to denote smaller iPhone upgrades. in the past (for example, iPhone 6S or iPhone XS). Partly that’s because the iPhone 12 lineup introduced last fall was especially laden with new features and design changes, but it was also because COVID-19 restrictions slowed down Apple engineers, according to the report.

While the iPhone 13 wouldn’t have a drastically new design, the report describes one potential change that Apple is testing internally: the addition of an in-display fingerprint reader.

In 2017, Apple released Face ID, a facial recognition authentication alternative to the fingerprint reader (Touch ID) technology it had used in previous iPhones. The first generation of Face ID was a bit slower and less consistent than Touch ID, but later updates have upgraded it, and most users have come to accept or appreciate the new method.

However, some people still prefer to unlock their phones with a fingerprint, and the need to wear masks during the pandemic has made signing in through facial recognition much less appealing, even though Apple has released a small update for iPhones for make the Face ID bypass process when wearing a mask a little more lively. Some competing Android phones already offer in-display fingerprint readers.

This change would herald the return of Touch ID on flagship iPhones. In the current range, it is only present in the low-cost iPhone SE model. Touch ID itself was introduced in an “S” update: the iPhone 5S was the first to include this technology. And like Face ID, it took several iterations to improve the effectiveness of Touch ID after its introduction.

Stay true to TrueDepth

However, Apple has no plans to remove the TrueDepth sensor network that facilitates face identification, even if it introduces Touch ID to the screen. Indeed, the matrix also supports the key functionalities of photography and augmented reality.

Bloomberg sources also say that Apple is “discussing” removing the physical charging port from the iPhone, since last year’s iPhones introduced MagSafe wireless chargers. But just because the company is discussing it as a possibility, doesn’t mean it’s a sure thing.

To this end too, the report claims that Apple is actively testing foldable iPhone models, although these aren’t sure to hit the market, and if they do, it will likely be in a few years. Don’t be surprised that Apple is at least testing foldables; the Android smartphone market has seen a few foldable phones, although we generally found them to be compromised or poor user experiences. As with removing the charging port, just because Apple is testing this feature doesn’t mean it will actually happen.

Finally, the report claims that Apple will finally release AirTags, its augmented reality competitor Tile. Bloomberg said that this product is the only one that Apple intends to deliver by the end of 2020 that will not be released.