Apple Wins Another Patent for Under-Display Touch ID

The Cupertino-based tech giant has obtained plenty of patents for an in-display fingerprint scanner so far. Today, Apple has won yet another patent for an under-display fingerprint sensor that will allow you to use Touch ID from anywhere on the screen.

The patent granted to Apple today by USPTO reveals some exciting new information about an all-new Touch ID. According to the patent, this in-display fingerprint scanner will have a large footprint, covering an extensive area of the screen. It means that a fingerprint can be recognized by placing the finger almost anywhere on the screen, which will make it easier for the users to unlock the screen.

Apple’s Face ID scans your face as soon as you tap the icon of an app that requires biometric authentication to save time. The Touch ID that Apple talks about in today’s patent can offer the same functionality; it could scan your fingerprint as soon as you tap on the app icon for apps that requires biometric authentication. This will make in-app biometric authentication much easier.

Apple’s ambition for iPhone’s design has always been to create ‘a single slab of glass.’ The brand took a major step towards its ambition by removing the home button and cutting down on bezels, with the launch of the iPhone X. If Apple uses an in-display Touch ID, it will be the next step towards making the iPhone ‘a slab of glass’.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made unlocking iPhones using Face ID much harder as the face recognition system can’t scan faces with masks. This might be another reason that Apple would want to shift from Face ID to in-display Touch ID as soon as possible. According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple might launch a Touch ID-equipped iPhone in 2021.

[Source: Patently Apple]