Apple’s Patent Applications
Apple filed for several patents for an embedded fingerprint scanner and different methods of implementing it. The US Patent and Trademark office has approved one of these applications. The Cupertino giant filed the first application back in 2015.
Embedded Fingerprint Scanner
The patent allows Apple to remove the existing Touch ID sensor. Additionally, it describes the unified experience that the new embedded fingerprint scanner will create. The following is an extract from the actual patent:
“Where a fingerprint sensor is integrated into an electronic device or host device, for example, as noted above, it may be desirable to more quickly perform authentication, particularly while performing another task or an application on the electronic device. In other words, in some instances it may be undesirable to have a user perform an authentication in a separate authentication step, for example switching between tasks to perform the authentication.”
This would result in a much smoother experience for the user. The users will not have to use the sensor to authenticate. This means that using the App Store for purchases or Apple Pay for transactions would be much faster. The iPhone will simply detect the finger already touching the display to confirm the purchase. Additionally, the entire process will be faster since no authentication messages show up.
Bezel-less iPhone 8
Rumors and reports regarding a bezel-less iPhone 8 have been coming out in full spring. With this new information, the truth in these rumors has become a bit more probable. Speculations have also been existing regarding facial recognition and retina scanning. However, they won’t completely eliminate the fingerprint verification, as this new patent suggests. Moreover, the fingerprint scanner is still favored by users. Newer biometric verification systems will not change this.
A previous report mentioned that Apple might include a new “function area” at the bottom of the display. This could mean that the function area would house the new embedded fingerprint scanner. Nevertheless, the incoming speculations do not concretely conclude anything. We will have to wait for the official announcement of the iPhone 8 in September to find out.