The iPhone 12 have not been on the market for a month. What’s more, there are not even all the models launched, since the 12 mini and 12 Pro Max will open reservations this Friday. However, we are already getting to know new details of the future iPhone 13 or 12s (whatever Apple wants to call them). The latter has to do with Touch ID.
Touch ID on screen and on lock button
In 2017 we met the iPhone X, the first device of the company to eliminate the Home button and with it the Touch ID. Since then we have only had Face ID as a biometric system in every new iPhone, with the exception of the iPhone SE launched this year. Many users have claimed during this time the return of fingerprint recognition, despite the good performance of facial recognition. Now everything indicates that he will return in 2021 .
COVID-19 and the need to wear a mask as a preventive measure makes unlocking an iPhone with Face ID tedious, since it is necessary to enter the security code. While Apple did not appear to have any pretense of bringing Touch ID back, the pandemic would have prompted the change of mind.
Recent reports and patents such as one highlighted by Appleinsider refer to a Touch ID on the screen , which could be implemented in the ‘Pro’ models next year. The exact technology that you will end up using is unknown, but it is not unreasonable considering that there are many Android devices that have been with this functionality for years.
For the standard models, the successors of the 12 and 12 mini, we could see a Touch ID integrated in the sleep button as it already happens in the iPad Air 4. This way of placing the fingerprint recognition is not an Apple invention either. , but the fact of having included it in their latest tablet could make it easier for them to integrate it into mobile phones.
It will coexist with Face ID … and with the notch
Many wonder the reason why the iPhone 12 have not already added this Touch ID on the button and the main reason is that when all the development of these devices was done, the pandemic had not jumped. Had it tried to integrate this sensor, production and launch would have been further delayed, so the company preferred to follow its established plan with the already numerous obstacles left by the coronavirus.
In future iPhone, despite returning Touch ID, face unlocking will not be abandoned. The fact that Face ID is the best recognition of this type thanks to its 3D sensors is more than enough reason to continue betting on it, although the notch is probably still present on the contrary. We will see, yes, if this is finally reduced or follows in the wake left by the iPhone X and that we are still seeing with the iPhone 12.
It will be necessary to see how to integrate both recognition systems, if they complement each other or if it can be configured according to use. We will know all this at the time of its presentation, for which there is still a year left. However, we will be attentive to rumors and leaks that shed some more light. At the end of the day, whether for better or for worse, we are seeing many analysts get it right to the point of having known almost the entire iPhone 12 long before its presentation on October 13.