Today at CES 2021, Qualcomm unveiled a new on-screen fingerprint sensor that it says is 50% faster and 77% larger than its previous technology. The new Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 is expected to find its way to high-end Android flagships this year, and it comes as Apple works to bring Touch ID back to the iPhone.
Like the Edge reported, the new Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor measures 8mm x 8mm, compared to the previous generation’s 4mm x 9mm surface. Qualcomm says that when the faster processor and the larger sensor are combined, performance should be 50% faster with the Gen 2 than with its predecessor.
The new sensor is technically the third Qualcomm ultrasound fingerprint reader not to be shown, following the original 3D Sonic Sensor and the 3D Sonic Max (introduced in 2019) – which is actually just a much larger version of the sensor from the was first generation, but it had no real speed improvements. Although the 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 does not quite match the 3D Sonic Max sensor (which measures a whopping 20 mm x 30 mm), the speed improvements should compensate for that.
The 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 is expected to be used in smartphones such as the Galaxy S21 as early as the first half of 2021.
As you may recall, several reports have suggested that Apple Touch ID will return to the iPhone series again as soon as this year. The trusted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported in August 2019 that he will be releasing an iPhone with both Face ID and Touch ID under the screen in 2021.
Kuo specifically wrote that he expects Apple to use a ‘variant of Qualcomm’s ultrasonic fingerprint-under-display system’. The details here are unclear, and it is unknown whether Apple still intends to use some form of Qualcomm’s technology, or whether it has developed its own.
In addition, the reliable leak L0vetodream also reported that Touch ID on the screen will soon turn to the iPhone. Bloomberg also said that Apple will add Touch ID below the screen to the iPhone.
Offering Touch ID and Face ID will increase the overall ease and speed of unlocking the iPhone. A user registers their fingerprints and face signature, and the phone can unlock as soon as the recognition passes. There is also the common problem that Face ID does not work with face masks, which can be solved by having Touch ID also available as an option.
Finally, if users want their iPhones to be as secure as possible, they can theoretically enable both Touch ID and Face ID, and the iPhone will only unlock after both forms of biometric authentication have been successfully recognized.
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