Any hope of TouchID making something of a return to flagship iPhone models looks highly unlikely, according to a new report. Ever since the iPhone X, Apple has moved towards FaceID, leaving fingerprint scanners in the realm of iPads, MacBooks and the iPhone SE. Now, a report on Chinese social media site Weibo claims Apple's is stripping the component needed for TouchID out of upcoming iPhone 16 hardware altogether.
The user posted this statement (via Google Translate) on Weibo: ‘Recently, there is news that Apple will use fingerprint recognition in the new iPhone. The fingerprint recognition chip is a special 8-inch process. Most of the devices originally used for Apple's fingerprint recognition have been shut down and sealed. Basically, Apple will not use fingerprint recognition as a direction to unlock the phone.‘
This message implies that the original chips that worked around fingerprint recognition will not be making a return and, as such, the iPhone 16 will not have the feature. However, they have stated that the third-generation iPhone SE will still retain the TouchID feature, but that is the last model that will have it in the foreseeable future.
This change would match the iPhone 16 with the 4th generation iPhone SE, which has reported the lack of a touchscreen identification while promoting the FaceID system that has been lacking from the model for a while.
This more than likely means that the future for the iPhones will be FaceID, which debuted back in 2017 with the iPhone X. This may be a turn-off for some buyers, but for many, it may be seen as a natural progression considering the push for facial unlocks over the last few models.
This news adds to other rumors circulating about the iPhone 16, including new battery technology to mitigate any potential overheating like the iPhone 15. There are also rumors about an upgraded OLED created by the Samsung Subsidiary Samsung Display. We won't know more until the eventual release date, which is likely to be sometime in September next year.
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