Apple reconsiders Touch ID and release of low-cost iPhone

With only a few days left until Apple showcases its newest product line, the word around the block hints that in the next year or two the tech giant wants to bring back Touch ID, as well as introduce a new line of low-cost iPhones, Bloomberg reports.

After it replaced fingerprint scanning (Touch ID) with Face ID in 2017, Apple is now looking into possibly offering both biometric features for users, letting them choose the preferred feature to unlock the phone and authenticate transactions. The reports confirm recent claims by industry analysts that new iPhones would implement both native biometrics.

However, Apple fans will not be deliberating for long, argues 9 to 5 Mac, and claims that owners of newly released devices would most likely not return to old technology. The launch of iPhone X sparked lots of debate after Apple announced at the time that Face ID was the best and most secure technology for authentication.

“Face ID reinvented the way we unlock, log in, and pay. Some of our most sophisticated technologies — the TrueDepth camera system, the Secure Enclave and the Neural Engine — make it the most secure facial authentication ever in a smart¬phone. And even faster and easier to use,” the company said.

The cheaper iPhone version is allegedly planned for the first half of 2020, it would include both a fingerprint reader embedded in the screen and Face ID, and it would be similar to the iPhone 8. However, this product will not have Touch Id in-built in the screen, but it will come with the traditional home button.

According to sources familiar with the project, the technology is tested at Apple and by overseas suppliers, and it may be available for release by 2021.

When it stopped selling iPhones with Touch ID in 2018, Apple claimed facial recognition technology would deliver more robust security than fingerprint scanning.

Apple is not the first company to introduce multiple biometric security features. Android-phone developers such as Samsung, Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi have already integrated the technology.

Apple declined to comment.

Article Topics

Apple  |  biometrics  |  Face ID  |  facial recognition  |  fingerprint authentication  |  iPhone  |  smartphones  |  Touch ID