Is Apple still working, as was once rumored, on integrating fingerprint recognition into its phone screens, or is the company planning to embed Face ID in all of its future iPhones?
According to a report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple has not yet decided.
If user response to the iPhone X's facial recognition is positive, the report claims that Apple will likely add the technology to all of its new models in 2018. If it "fails to impress consumers," the company will likely continue its efforts to integrate Touch ID into iPhone displays.
It's certainly possible to put a fingerprint scanner in a phone display — Vivo and Qualcomm demonstrated the technology in June. However, Kuo claims that Apple is having a hard time integrating fingerprint scanners into the displays of its iPhones because of 3D Touch, which makes the display panel thicker, reducing the accuracy of an under-display fingerprint scanner.
This could be a tough challenge for Apple. The company has gone to great lengths to convince people that its facial recognition technology is perfect, but many rumors have suggested that Apple was desperate to ship the iPhone X with an under-display fingerprint scanner, with Face ID being a last-minute replacement. If usage proves that facial recognition isn't all that great, then the company will likely change its plans again.
The iPhone X is scheduled to start shipping to customers on November 3, but rumors claim that supplies are very limited, meaning most users won't get it until 2018.
