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Apple struggled to embed the Touch ID fingerprint sensor beneath the display
Apple will launch its all-new flagship smartphone, iPhone X, next month.
The hotly-anticipated handset eschews the iconic Home Button in favour of an almost edge-to-edge OLED display.
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Since the iPhone X does not have a physical Home Button (and therefore, doesn’t have the Touch ID fingerprint scanner included in the hardware button) Apple has opted for facial recognition.
However, this wasn’t always the plan.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Apple did everything in its power to embed its Touch ID beneath the iPhone X display.
The Cupertino-based company had hoped to allow iPhone X users to scan their fingerprint by placing it on the edge-to-edge glass screen.
The move to an OLED display is purportedly to blame for the lack of Touch ID.
GETTY
iPhone X ditches the physical Home Button in favour of an all-screen design
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Apple initially hoped to equip the iPhone X with the Touch ID function, which allows users to open the phone by scanning their fingerprint.
“But incorporating the scanner into the new OLED display proved problematic, and Apple eventually scrapped the scanner on the new phones.
“The episode contributed to iPhone X sales being pushed back ’til November, people familiar with the matter said.”
In the months leading up to Apple’s September iPhone announcement, there were a slew of rumours the company was having trouble with its new design.
Leaked images of iPhone models with the Touch ID sensor mounted on the rear panel flooded social media.
If the report from the Wall Street Journal is accurate, was the Face ID sensor a back-up plan?
It’s unclear whether Apple originally intended to ship its next-generation face scanning technology alongside a Touch ID sensor embedded beneath the display.
Face ID would have been optional – a choice for those who wanted to test the futuristic new authentication system.
As it stands, iPhone X owners will have no option but to either use a traditional numerical passcode, or try the new Face ID face scanning technology.
Face ID projects some 30,000 invisible IR dots to create a mathematical model of the users’ face.
The IR image and dot pattern are used to create a mathematical model of the user’s face, which is then sent to the secure enclave to confirm a match.
The probability that a random person in the population could look at your iPhone X and unlock it using Face ID is approximately 1 in 1,000,000 – versus a probably of 1 in 50,000 for Touch ID.
Statistically speaking, Face ID is much more secure than its predecessor, Touch ID.
Apple will use the face scanning system to allow users to login, authenticate contactless payments, and unlock secure apps on the iPhone X.
Apple says it has worked with thousands of people from around the globe to design its Face ID, but we won’t really be able to judge the success of Face ID until millions of customers rely on it every single day.
APPLE
The TrueDepth camera system is statistically more secure than Touch ID
Meanwhile, Samsung purportedly wants to embed a fingerprint scanner beneath the display of the Galaxy Note 9.
The Note 9 is scheduled to launch in August 2019, according to the latest reports.
It’s unclear whether Apple plans to continue work to embed its Touch ID sensor beneath the display, with a view to bringing back the functionality on the successor to the iPhone X.
iPhone X pre-orders will open on October 27th, with the first smartphones shipping on November 3rd.