Did this Australian teen just leak the real iPhone 5S fingerprint sensor?

As Apple’s September 10 launch date inches closer, speculation is hotter than ever regarding the iPhone 5S, and there’s an Australian teenager  who’s posted pictures of what could be the phone’s rumored home button fingerprint sensor that the tech world can’t stop talking about this week.

Sonny Dickson, lives in his parent’s basement in Melbourne and says he has reliable sources in China who buy factory prototype parts directly from workers on the assembly line. These sources send him photos and videos of the parts and then the Australian teen posts them on Youtube and his own website.

See a close-up of the purported leak on Dickson’s website here.

“I’ve been doing this for many years, so I know what looks fake and what’s not,” Dickson said in a Reuters report.  

“I trust what they say to me — but I also back up the story with other people to make sure what I’m posting is legit.”

According to the report in Reuters, Dickson spends half a day maintaining his website, which spiked to a million hits last month.

“I’m not doing it just to piss them off – I still buy their products,” he said.

We’ve written extensively about fingerprint speculation for the new iPhone and though these rumors should always be taken with a grain of salt, this one seems to have some staying power. Maybe because of the unlikely leaker, or maybe its because the part looks so damn realistic. Either way, we’ll see soon enough.

As we reported, whether the 5S launches with a fingerprint sensor or not, the rumors have sent many biometric stocks flying through the roof.

It’s not just Apple that many expect will integrate a fingerprint sensor in upcoming an upcoming device. Phones in Asia have already been launched with fingerprint sensors and the companies that manufacture sensors suitable for mobile devices have seen immense growth over the last year.

Fingerprint Cards – one of these companies — recently released its interim report for the period of January-June 2013 and despite some recently-lowered expectations, the company has been busy, to say the least.

“The second quarter can be summarized as the best in the company’s history, with the highest sales levels to date and [a recent] collaboration with Microsoft, which is cause for our highly positive outlook for the next few years,” Johan Carlström, President and CEO said in the corporate report.

It’s really not a question of whether these devices will be launched, but when. Apple needs to make the first move in North America and its likely many will follow.

In a recent Research Note, the Biometrics Research group said that it expects the next round of smartphones will incorporate biometrics, and that integration will be driven by smartphone and tablet manufacturers, including Apple and Samsung.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, here’s a quick list of some other stories from the constantly-flowing iPhone 5S leaks-and-rumor mill:

• Code in iOS 7 beta stokes iPhone 5S fingerprint sensor speculation 
• Apple and Samsung struggle with hurdles in fingerprint race 
• Apple files fingerprint patent for sensor beneath iPhone display 
• USPTO publishes Apple fingerprint sensor filing 
• Fingerprint sensor could be causing delay in iPhone 5S production 
• Will the next iPhone feature a fingerprint sensor? Signs point to yes 

 

Article Topics

Apple  |  consumer  |  fingerprint  |  iPhone 5S  |  leak  |  rumor