According to recent rumors, it has been hinted that 2017’s iPhone will be quite a device to behold. It is expected to sport an edgeless display, an all-glass enclosure, and there will be no home button. Instead it is all expected to en encased in glass with Touch ID potentially residing underneath a glass display.
It sounds a bit far-fetched but given that the information comes from well-connected Apple blogger John Gruber, it could be true. In fact according to Patently Apple, they have stumbled across an Apple patent that lends credence to the rumors of a buttonless Touch ID as the patent seems to suggest how it is possible for Touch ID to be placed beneath the device’s display.
This is actually the third such patent filed by Apple that we know off. One of the patents was actually revealed early last year but according to this one, it suggests three different methods of identifying the user’s prints. This is done through optical, capacitive, and ultrasonic (which would be similar to Qualcomm’s Sense ID).
There are pros and cons to the various methods, with optical being easily duped by ‘gummi bear attacks’, which is basically the lifting and replicating of a fingerprint using substances like a gummi bear candy. It is said that ultrasonic is probably the most accurate form but so far it has not really been tested in the real-world as it seems that pretty much no smartphone manufacturer has adopted the technology yet.
Of course this is a patent meaning that there is no guarantee that Apple will make it a reality, but combine it with the recent rumors and we’re starting to see how Apple could have potentially laid the groundwork for it to happen.