It's time for Touch ID to swoop back onto the iPhone

Summary

Fingerprint sensors had existed well before the iPhone, but it was the 5S and its Touch ID system that catapulted the tech into the consumer mainstream.
Infamously, Apple axed Touch ID in favor of a facial biometric sytem, Face ID, when it launched the iPhone X.
Rapid evolution in fingerprint sensing tech has made fingerprint recognition a staple of the Android scene — it’s time for Apple to incorporate this same ultrasonic tech into its next iPhone release.

2013’s iPhone 5S was a milestone product release from Apple — the tech giant’s then-latest handset not only shipped with an industry-first in the form of 64-bit computing architecture, but it also marked the introduction of the now-beloved Touch ID sensor.

Of course, Touch ID was far from the first capacitive-style fingerprint reader to ship on a consumer tech device, but it holds the distinction of being well implemented from the get-go (remember the monstrosity that was the Samsung Galaxy S5‘s fingerprint sensor, anyone?)

With 2017’s iPhone X release, Apple declared the future of biometric authentication to be one of facial recognition.

Across future generational releases of the iPhone, Apple continued to improve on its Touch ID fingerprint sensing tech, until one day, the company decided to pivot fast and hard in a new direction. With 2017’s iPhone X release, Apple declared the future of biometric authentication to be one of facial recognition, as opposed to the tried-and-true fingerprint reading system we had grown accustomed to on our handsets.

Under-display Face ID could be coming to the iPhone sooner than you think

Apple may be close to implementing Face ID underneath the iPhone’s display based on a newly filed patent.

Where Face ID once felt like the future, today it feels passé

The iPhone gave birth to Touch ID, and it’s time for fingerprint sensing system to circle back home

Apple / Pocket-lint

For a period of time, I was well and truly a Face ID evangelist. Unlike your typical fingerprint sensor, which requires a deliberate pressing of your fingertip onto a dedicated sensor area, facial recognition provides a near-frictionless user experience.

Particularly up here in Canada, where gloves are a near necessity during the winter months, the ability to unlock my device without sacrificing extremity warmth has been a perk worth celebrating.

Then, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic burst onto the world stage, and with it, the need to wear masks in many public settings. Try as Apple did to work around the inherent limitations of masked facial recognition, the added friction drove me to reconsider my stance on the pros and cons of alternative biometric solutions.

I began testing some of the fingerprint sensors built into competing Android smartphones, and I soon discovered that the tech had matured and become incredibly reliable in recent years. In the past, I sometimes struggled with accuracy issues on capacitive-based sensors, but modern under-display readers pose no such issues in my experience.

Optical fingerprint sensors — and especially their more advanced ultrasonic-based siblings — are fast, responsive, and accurate.

Optical fingerprint sensors — and especially their more advanced ultrasonic-based siblings — are fast, responsive, and accurate. When relying on fingerprint recognition to unlock my Pixel 9 Pro, for example, I find myself never struggling to unlock the device. This includes such instances as lying in bed, watching a video from an awkward angle, or wearing sunglasses.

In-display Fingerprint Readers How Do They Work And What Phones Will We See Them In image 2

In-display fingerprint readers: How they work plus optical vs ultrasonic

They’ve been the mainstream for a few years now, but how do they work exactly?

After being hit with this ultrasonic reality check, I now firmly believe the time is right for Apple to re-implement fingerprint recognition on the next iPhone. Under-display sensors provide an excellent user experience, and it’s one that wouldn’t compromise the clean and minimalistic aesthetic of the iPhone line, either.

…I’d hope to see Apple implement both forms of biometric authentication into the next iPhone.

Of course, I wouldn’t want to sacrifice Face ID in the name of a next-generation Touch ID; rather, I’d hope to see Apple implement both forms of biometric security into the next iPhone. By doing so, advocates of both systems would be able to have their cake and eat it, which I believe is ultimately the best way forward with regard to user security.