Apple patented in-screen Touch ID fingerprint sensor, will appear on iPhone 2021?

Apple in 2017 pioneered Face ID 3D technology and turned it into one of the best biometric security methods in the world today, but few Android smartphones can "match" on speed. degree. The weakness of Face ID technology is that it requires a part of the screen (also known as a "notch") that Apple has not yet thought of to solve this problem. However, in the future, this portion of the screen and Face ID may soon disappear thanks to a new biometric technology registered by Apple.

Specifically, Apple has recently been granted a new patent related to a security technology with a fingerprint sensor placed in the screen. This sensor, like most Android smartphones today, uses an optical scanning mechanism, which uses a light source below the screen to read the fingerprint data of the user.

This invention has been filed by Apple since 2017 and it has been used by the company on the new 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro line launched last month. However, in the patent granted, Apple has described that this technology can be applied on the screen.

And due to the usual optical scanning mechanism, the security and speed of this sensor may not be as good as the previous Touch ID capacitive fingerprint sensor. It is not clear how Apple will address its new technology. At present, there are only two types of fingerprint sensors applied under the screen, namely optical sensors using scanning light and ultrasonic sensors using ultrasonic waves to create fingerprint maps. (Galaxy S10 / Note10 …). In particular, ultrasonic sensors have higher security and relative speed. However, both types of technologies have certain weaknesses that make it unable to be strongly applied in biometric verification.

If Apple can overcome the disadvantages of an optical fingerprint sensor, it is possible that future iPhone models will probably have an in-screen fingerprint sensor and remove Face ID for a device. "rabbit ears", or Apple may have both Face ID and an in-screen fingerprint sensor.