Fingerprint Sensor

Apple posts Touch ID video walkthrough

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Just like clockwork, Apple has now updated its website with new material related to today's announcements. The flagship iPhone 5s has received a substantial upgrade and with much of the attention surrounding its fingerprint scanning feature, the company has made a little video explaining how they integrated the sensitive fingerprint reader into the Home button while giving us an overview of how Touch ID works. I've included it for your viewing pleaser right after the break, have a look right now...

Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint scanning revealed

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

A last-minute leak from our friends over at Nowhereelse.fr suggested that Apple would refer to the rumored iPhone 5s fingerprint sensor as Touch ID. The rumors were true: Apple first revealed the top-end iPhone 5s which has a much-improved camera and runs two times faster A7 chip that's 64-bit (the first for a phone) and a new motion chip called M7.

The executives saved the best part for the end of the presentation: the built-in fingerprint scanning feature which draws from Apple's 2012 acquisition of the Israeli biometric sensor experts AuthenTec. Jump past the fold for the full reveal..

Fingerprint sensor called ‘Touch ID’ in alleged iPhone 5S user guide

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

You have to love last-minute leaks. Shortly after The Wall Street Journal published a report confirming that the iPhone 5S would indeed sport a built-in fingerprint sensor, another bit of evidence surfaced in favor of the feature.

What you see above is an illustration of what is believed to be an iPhone 5S, running iOS 7 and sporting a silver ring around its Home button. The photo is believed to have been taken from within the handset's user guide...

Wall Street Journal confirms new iPhone has fingerprint sensor

Cody Lee ∙ September 10, 2013

According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the rumors are true, Apple is going to introduce a new iPhone tomorrow morning with a fingerprint sensor built into the Home button.

In a last minute scoop, the news outlet says it has confirmed with "people familiar with the matter" that the much talked about feature will indeed be present in at least one of Apple's new handsets...

NFC/fingerprint sensor patent tips off exciting iPhone 5S Home button potential

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 9, 2013

Much has been made about the highly-expected iPhone 5S containing a fingerprint sensor within the Home button. Other talk has surrounded the promise of Near Field Communications (NFC) and Apple's off-and-on interest in the technology. It appears both a fingerprint sensor and NFC may join together to turn the next iPhone into an electronic wallet and more.

According to a new Apple patent that's surfaced in Europe, the iPhone 5S may include an updated Home button encircled by a ring which detects your finger. But this super-charged Home button also adds NFC, potentially replacing passwords and enabling secure wireless e-commerce, next-generation docks and other exciting opportunities...

Martin Hajek’s vision of the Lord of the Rings iPhone 5S Home button

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

A pair of sketchy images posted Friday by the Chinese-language blog C Technology prompted quite a stir among technology denizens. If you haven't seen them already, the purported photographs show an odd-looking iPhone 5S packaging (likely Photoshop'd) sporting device graphics on the box's front. The most curious aspect of it: a redesigned Home button, without the square in the middle and with a silver ring around it.

The photos led armchair analysts to postulate that the ring is actually a fingerprint sensor - nevermind that virtually every single rumor points to the sensor being actually built underneath the Home button. Anyway, here's 3D artist Martin Hajek's awesome Lord of the Rings mockup which draws from the supposedly "leaked" packaging...

Blurry images claim to show iPhone 5S Home button with a silver ring around the edge

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 29, 2016

We're just days away from Apple's big reveal. Oddly enough, there's been little - if any - credible leaks to support the fingerprint scanning thesis, which analysts and industry insiders alike believe to be the handset's killer feature. So, either Tim Cook & Co. have tripled-down on secrecy or the rumor-mill has been taking us all for a ride.

Unless someone comes out with a better piece of evidence than these blurred photographs of a supposed iPhone 5S packaging, we'll have to speculate whether or not anything has changed about the iPhone's iconic Home button.

Have a closer look at the images right after the break, pinches of salt and everything...

New photo of alleged iPhone 5S Home button part could point to fingerprint sensor

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 13, 2018

As the September 10 iPhone event draws nearer, pundits have begun to cast their final predictions for what features Apple's next smartphone will possess. A faster processor seems like a given, as do a better camera and new gold colorway, but what else?

A lot of folks also think that the iPhone 5S will have a fingerprint scanner built into its Home button. It's been reported by analysts on several occasions, and evidence of it surfaced in iOS 7, but we have yet to see any real concrete proof. Until now?

Analyst: iPhone 5S fingerprint sensor limited to user authentication, secure payments due in 2014

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 13, 2013

The upcoming iPhone 5S revision, likely slated for an announcement at Apple's upcoming September 10 media event, is widely expected to include the fingerprint scanning feature based on Apple's 2012 acquisition of smart sensor experts AuthenTec.

Now, there's been a lot of uncertainty as to what software features the smart sensor might support.

According to a research note issued late yesterday to clients, an analyst predicted the feature would be initially used to authenticate users in place of the iOS slide-to-unlock feature because rumored secure payments which are dependent on the smart sensor won't be ready in time for the iPhone 5S introduction...

Low fingerprint sensor yields may cause iPhone 5S availability issues

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 12, 2013

With Apple's September 10 media event now all but confirmed and the iPhone 5S fingerprint sensor rumors reaching fever pitch, the somewhat reliable Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes warns the handset could be initially in scarce supply due to low yield rates of a brand new delicate component, the fingerprint sensor.

The report mentions that the world's largest independent semiconductor foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is building these tiny sensors Apple secured after buying the leader in this field, Israeli-based AuthenTec, a year ago. Due to the fingerprint sensor manufacturing challenges, Apple could only put 3-4 million iPhone 5S units on sale in the third quarter versus the original ten million units target...

Biometric expert breaks down how an iPhone fingerprint sensor could work

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

After months of rumors and speculation, evidence popped up last month seemingly confirming that future iOS devices will have built-in fingerprint sensors. Code was found hidden in iOS 7 that refers directly to the feature, suggesting we could see it as soon as this year.

The idea, though, of Apple putting fingerprint sensors in its mobile devices spawns a number of questions like: what will it be used for, how will it work, and how durable will it be? Luckily, biometric authentication expert Geppy Parziale has decided to impart some of his wisdom...

Hidden code in iOS 7 seemingly confirms iPhone with built-in fingerprint sensor

Cody Lee ∙ July 29, 2013

After a three week hiatus, Apple seeded the 4th beta of iOS 7 to developers this morning. The update brings about a number of UI changes and improvements, but no new features have been spotted yet—until now.

Developer Hamza Sood has discovered some hidden code within the beta that seemingly confirms the rumors that the next generation iPhone will feature a built-in fingerprint sensor...