The new iPhone to be released later this year will arguably be Apple’s most important and most radical smartphone to date. But recent reports suggest that the tech giant has cancelled one of the key features of the device.
This news comes from renowned security expert Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities. Kuo claimed that Apple has not only cancelled all plans to integrate a fingerprint reader in the new iPhone’s display, the company has also decided to remove Touch ID from the device.
Previous reports indicated that the firm might enlarge the power button to accommodate Touch ID.
The iPhone 8 specs Kuo leaked a few months ago already showed no Touch ID, and last month Mark Gurman from Bloomberg also speculated about this possibility. The iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S plus, however, will keep Touch ID without facial recognition.
As confirmed by recent software leaks, Apple has instead decided to upgrade the new device’s security system to Face ID. Facial recognition is of course not a new concept, but on many phones — including Samsung’s Galaxy S8 — it is problematic in low light, sunlight and when the owner wears glasses or sunglasses.
Samsung has an edge on Apple in this regard due to the fact that both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus still feature fingerprint sensors as a backup to facial recognition, although they are inconveniently located.
Optimists will no doubt claim that Apple’s new facial recognition technology will be better than anything we’ve seen on a smartphone before, though the company’s new finalised circuitry and 4mm front bezel indicated it was willing to risk the iPhone 8’s usability for the sake of how it looks.
Let’s hope Apple once again proves it can effectively forsake mainstream technology (as it has done with the headphone jack, dock connector, floppy disk, and USB Type-A) when it believes a better alternative is available.