
Rumors Persist About Apple Placing Touch ID on Back of iPhone 8
Saturday May 6, 2017 3:07 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple's rumored "iPhone 8" with an OLED display and wireless charging will continue to have Touch ID, but there is a "high chance" it will be on the back of the smartphone, says Hong Kong-based equity research firm CLSA.
"iPhone 8" mockup with rear Touch ID sensor by Benjamin Geskin An excerpt from a research note distributed this week by CLSA analysts Sebastian Hou and Brian Chen:iPhone to ditch fingerprint sensor? We don’t think so.
Both Samsung and Apple tried to enable in-display fingerprint sensing on full-screen OLED phones in 2017, but their optical tech seems immature and the major iPhone 8 bottleneck. Some thus speculate the fingerprint sensor will be removed and replaced by 3D sensing. Our latest supply chain checks indicate the iPhone 8 will still have the sensor given security, user-friendliness, and a need for payments infrastructure, but there is a high chance it will be on the back like Samsung's Galaxy S8.CLSA created a diagram showing Touch ID placed slightly below the Apple logo on the back of the iPhone.
Samsung included a fingerprint sensor on the back of the Galaxy S8, but some reviews found it to be awkwardly positioned next to the camera. Apple placing Touch ID lower down could make it easier to reach.
The diagram also shows a vertically-aligned dual-lens camera, a widely rumored iPhone 8 feature seen in previous renders. There also appear to be additional modules next to the front-facing camera, likely for rumored 3D sensing and facial recognition functionality. Other features shown are identical to the iPhone 7.
The diagram suggests
Read Full Article • 289 comments