Apple will debut a new iPhone this year with Touch ID fingerprint recognition as its primary authentication method, all reports suggest.
Apple hasn't debuted an iPhone with a fingerprint sensor since the third-generation iPhone in 2022, with Touch ID only appearing in some iPad models following the company's total embrace of Face ID technology on its iPhone lineup.
Later this year though, that's about to change. Bloomberg and several corroborating rumors indicate that Apple's new book-style foldable iPhone will use Touch ID integrated into a side button for unlocking and authentication.
However, technical constraints have effectively forced Apple's hand in bringing Touch ID back to iPhone. Bloomberg reports that Apple was left with little choice but to use it because the foldable iPhone's front panel is too thin to accommodate the Face ID sensor array.
That doesn't mean there won't be a Dynamic Island on the iPhone Fold – a small punch-hole camera is still present, and it will live in the pill-shaped housing out of which system alerts and information from background activities appear.
The iPhone Fold will arrive around mid-September with a price tag somewhere around $2,000, and it will be the most expensive iPhone in the 2026 lineup.
