Leaked iPhone 8 schematic suggests the fingerprint reader will be relocated
According to a report by CNBC, a new picture of an alleged schematic for the Apple iPhone 8 suggests Apple is going to change the location of the fingerprint reader.
Tech blogger Sonny Dickson posted to Twitter a picture of what appears to be a rendering of the iPhone 8 that shows that Apple may move the fingerprint reader to the back of the phone.
Earlier this week, a report by Investor’s Business Daily claimed that Apple’s fingerprint suppliers are struggling with mass manufacturing a new optical fingerprint sensor for the upcoming iPhone 8, which could result in shortages or a delay in availability for the highly-anticipated smartphone.
Pacific Crest Securities recently assessed the situation in a report to clients, which followed previous reports that disclosed Apple’s problems with embedding the fingerprint reader into new OLED displays. However, its analysts do not believe this materially threatens volume through the coming iPhone cycle.
The reports suggest that Apple may have to postpone its typical mid-September timeframe for the release.
“The anticipated move to a full-screen OLED panel in the coming iPhone 8/X eliminates the physical home button, which necessitates a move to a virtual home button and an optical fingerprint sensing solution to read fingerprints through the OLED panel,” said Pacific Crest analysts. “At this point, we do not believe Apple’s optical fingerprint module provider has firm orders for production, which suggests Apple does not have functionality of the optical fingerprint sensor ready. Additionally, we believe Apple has evaluated Synaptic’s (SYNA) optical fingerprint solution, but that it has not been qualified.”
In February, rumors surfaced that the iPhone will feature a biometric login that relies on 3D sensing, either in the form of an iris scanner or facial recognition software.
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