Apple’s iPhone 13 may include optical fingerprint sensor

Apple is working on on-screen fingerprint technology for the iPhone 13, a feature that would be available right next to Face ID as a secondary biometric option, according to The Wall Street Journalsee Joanna Stern. Stern shared the thing in a piece that looked at Samsung Galaxy S21 features that could be incorporated into the next generation of iPhones.

We’ve heard several other rumors about Touch ID features on display from trusted sources such as Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, who both said it’s a feature Apple is considering adding to the new iPhones. A secondary ‘Touch ID’ option would be useful for situations where Face ID is not optimal, such as when wearing a face mask.

According to Stern, she heard from a former employee who said the company works with optical sensors for on-screen fingerprint reading, which can be ‘more reliable’ than an ultrasonic solution.

Optical fingerprint sensors on the screen work using light and in Android phones that use this technology, the screen burns with a fingerprint icon where you are meant to place a finger to give light, and create a camera ‘ an image of your finger. It can be easy to mislead optical sensors because they use a 2D image.

Ultrasonic fingerprint sensors are a newer technology and use small sound waves to make a 3D map of a fingerprint, a safer solution that can not be easily deceived, and one that works better when fingers are wet. However, ultrasonic fingerprint sensing technology is much more expensive.

The ‘Touch ID’ home buttons that Apple used on the iPhone, iPad and Macs are capacitive. Capacitive sensors use a series of small capacitors to create a fingerprint data card that is difficult to deceive because it does not use a straight fingerprint image.

It’s worth noting that optical capacitive hybrid sensors exist, so if Apple does use optics, the ‘Touch ID’ feature will not necessarily be as insecure as some optical sensors used by Android manufacturers. In fact, it is very unlikely that Apple will use a standard optical sensor, but an optical capacitive hybrid will combine the fast scanning advantages of the optical sensor with the safety of a capacitive sensor, and this system can not be easily deceived .

According to her source, the solution that Apple decides to adopt according to her source must meet the security standards of the current ‘Touch ID’ Home button, so the functioning will not be downgraded.

Although Stern’s source says that Apple is working on optical technology, Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at Apple, believes that Apple will use ultrasonic technology. He said GIS would offer Apple’s large sensor ultrasonic ‘technology, with Qualcomm providing an ultrasonic module and lamination. For what it’s worth, Apple has also patented ‘acoustic’ Touch ID functionality, which can work on screen.

Regardless of the implementation, the return of ‌Touch ID‌ to the ‌iPhone‌ will be welcome as it offers more authentication options to unlock the ‌iPhone‌ in different situations as well as an extra layer of security. So far, we have not confirmed rumors that this is a technology that will definitely come to the next generation of iPhones, nor is it clear that all 2021 iPhones will get the technology, especially if a more expensive ultrasonic solution is used.