Apple To Ditch Touch ID Altogether For All of Next Year's iPhones (macrumors.com)

Earlier this week, a report said that Apple is planning to equip next year's iPad Pro with the hardware necessary for Face ID. Now, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, it appears the company is taking that one step further with its 2018 iPhones. All of the iPhones Apple plans to produce next year will reportedly abandon the Touch ID fingerprint sensor in favor of facial recognition. Mac Rumors reports: According to Kuo, Apple will embrace Face ID as its authentication method for a competitive advantage over Android smartphones. Kuo has previously said that it could take years for Android smartphone manufacturers to produce technology that can match the TrueDepth camera and the Face ID feature coming in the iPhone X. Face ID, says Kuo, will continue to be a major selling point of the new iPhone models in 2018, with Apple planning to capitalize on its lead in 3D sensing design and production. Kuo's prediction suggests that all upcoming 2018 iPhones will feature a full-screen design with minimal bezels like the iPhone X, meaning no additional models with the iPhone 8/iPhone 8 Plus design would be produced. That would spell the end of the line for Touch ID in the iPhone, which has been available as a biometric authentication option since 2013.

Comments

Re:Umm I live in the frozen north.

[Presence Eternal]

To be fair, you'd probably have gloves on under similar circumstances.

now i have to keep the Whole Face?

[turkeydance]

eyeballs were easier. whatever.

Apple putting design over usability AGAIN

[Shepanator]

I unlock my phone multiple times per day in situations where my face wouldn't be visible to the face id sensor. Not only that even in situations where face id WOULD work a fingerprint sensor is faster anyway, because your finger can have unlocked the phone before you've even bought it up to your face from your pocket. This is apple hurting usability to serve design once again. When the technology to have fingerprint scanners under the screen is finally ready they will look like fools.

Re: Apple putting design over usability AGAIN

[brix]

What situations are you in that you need your phone unlocked and aren't looking at it?

- Phone is sitting on my desk.
- Phone is on a mount in my car
- Phone is being used for Apple Pay

In all of those situations, my finger is a far quicker method to unlock the phone.

In the case of a car, it's even a safety issue, in my opinion.

Me: "Hey Siri, Open Waze"
SirI: "You'll need to unlock your phone first."

Now: Reach up and touch the home button with my finger, then use Waze voice control.
Then: Take the phone off the mount and point it at my face (while driving), both taking my hand off the wheel for longer and obstructing my view. Or I can unlock with passcode, which certainly takes longer, requires looking at the phone rather than the road, and may violate local laws.

The current iPhone TouchID mechanism is one of the main reasons I use my iPhone more than my Nexus 6. It's simple; it's fast; it's safe. Getting rid of this, even as an option, and going 100% FaceID is a huge step backwards for my use cases.

Discriminatory

[Teun]

This is discriminatory to all those without a face.

Re: Competitive advantage?

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple's uses a 3D scan of your face. The android one could be fooled with a photograph.

No thanks Apple

[the_skywise]

As a current owner of an iPhone 6, I have absolutely NO intention of ever upgrading to an iPhone X. I like the touchId but, more importantly, I like an actual physical BUTTON on the 6. I don't even like the recessed divot for the 7 or the 8 as there's no substitute for it when wearing gloves (and no, haptic feedback is NOT a substitute).

I don't even understand how Tim thinks that Face ID is unique to the iPhone when Microsoft already offers it for their Surface Pros and, surely, Google can buy the tech if need be.

This is nothing more than Tech CEO masturbation to keep the churn rate going. Cook is out of ideas and out of his depth. Apple is stagnating and no longer innovating while ignoring core infrastructure and support. For example I had to help out a friend do an upgrade from their iPhone 5 to iPhone 7 after iOS 11 came out. Guess what, iTunes backup will NOT let you update because the iOS' are different - but if you go through the iCloud update you can. Why? Because that's why. Why are the backup scenarios different between the iCloud and iTunes?

But hey, Tim's brought us animoji, so uh, there's that.

Black Electrical Tape

[ad454]

Just place black electrical tape over the front camera.

For those of us who are not into selfies or video chatting. The rear camera is still available for taking pictures/videos.

I still do not understand why manufactures do not place physical shutters over camera, considering all of the 3 letter agencies and criminals that target our devices.

Re: Competitive advantage?

[stephanruby]

Apple's uses a 3D scan of your face. The android one could be fooled with a photograph.

The HTC phone couldn't be fooled by a photograph. It used the camera sensor and a laser depth sensor (at least two years ago). And the LG phone couldn't be fooled by a photograph, it used a normal camera sensor plus an infrared one, that's how it could determine the depth (and that was at least three years ago).

And right now, Apple is paying $23 per iPhone to Sony for its two camera sensors: a normal low light one and an infrared one. And no, Sony didn't even give its best camera sensors to the iPhone. If you want the latest Sony camera, you'll have to purchase a Sony Xperia XZ phone which can shoot video at 960fps.

Please bookmark this post, three years from now, the latest iPhone will eventually be able to shoot at 960 fps thanks to Sony (assuming Apples pays them enough licensing fees), and some people will be raving about how the iPhone is pioneering all this crazy advanced technology that Android can't even come close to.

Also, don't believe every clickbait rumor you read. There is no way the iPhone will get rid of Touch ID. It may call it something else and it may improve on the technology by embedding into the glass itself. But there is no way it will get rid of it completely. Seriously, can you even imagine people unlocking their phone in a dark movie theater, or in a dark restroom? Or in a crowded subway? Or while driving? Even without Steve Jobs, Apple designers and Apple usability testers are not completely stupid.

Re:NSA

[Dutch Gun]

The issue isn't the quality of implementation, it's that the phone can be unlocked by anyone who holds it up to your face. With either this or fingerprint unlocking the government no longer needs to be able to hack the phone's encryption.

As with fingerprint readers, simply use a passcode if this is a concern to you. You're not required to use this feature.