We could be exactly three months from the launch of the iPhone in 2021 and the truth is that there have been many leaks in these months that now seem to go with a dropper. One of the most talked about features in this time has been the expected return of the iPhone fingerprint reader, although this time with the occasional novelty in its operation. But, is this feature still ringing for these terminals today? How would it be implemented? We analyze it.
Why Apple would bring back Touch ID
Apple is a very particular company in terms of convictions and it is that nobody beats stubbornness. If they insist on not admitting headphones and charging adapters in the boxes, they do so despite a monumental mess on forums and networks. And if they think a face unlock like Face ID is safer and faster on an iPhone, they go with it all the way. And beware, they cannot be taken away from the latter because despite the fact that at a functional level it may be more or less comfortable for the user, it is true that it has greater safety and efficacy. However, it seems that Apple, like so many companies and people, did not expect a pandemic like COVID-19 .
The health issue that concerns us for a year and a half has had several consequences in relation to Touch ID. The first thing is that the use of masks prevents unlocking of the iPhone with Face ID (except for those who have a Watch updated to the latest versions). It is said that seeing this situation in Cupertino they wanted to accelerate the development of an under-screen Touch ID that they had put aside years ago and that would only be back due to exceptional circumstances like this. However, the pandemic also meant that it could not be ordered in time to the factories for the iPhone 12, which were already considerably behind schedule.
A return that would make it coexist with Face ID
A priori this 2021 is going well in terms of time, which would no longer be an obstacle to see this sensor again. And although its usefulness against masks could soon lose its meaning (we hope it will), the truth is that the implementation of this extra system apart from Face ID does not hurt. Although, as we anticipated at the beginning, lately there has not been much said about it. This could be because there is no new information to show or that the plans have been canceled, although in the latter case something would have been leaked as well. Therefore, to this day and despite no official information about anything about the next iPhone, we can continue to give a very high probability of the return of this sensor.
And in what way would it arrive? Well, based on the reports of sources close to Apple that were known, this would be destined to be an alternative unlocking method to Face ID. It is not known if its activation could be combined, being able to have two methods, if it would be required to put only one or even if it can be unlocked using both the face and the fingerprint simultaneously. What if it seems clear is that it will be integrated under the screen as other manufacturers have been doing in the last 4 years.
Although it is unknown exactly what technology they will use for this, according to some reports this could be one of the fastest sensors on the market, if not the most. That would be fulfilled what they say that Apple is late, but it arrives better. Although we certainly do not know to what extent this “advance” can be justified when it is a too standardized technology in the market. Be that as it may, it seems that soon we will be able to get out of doubt when Apple raises the curtain on its presumable September event in which it unveils the four new iPhones, called ’13’ or ’12s’.