Future iPhones will have both touch ID and under-display FaceID

In the latest entry of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple considered adding Touch ID to the iPhone 13, but those plans have been delayed. Still, he says the ultimate goal is to add this feature to smartphones along with under-the-display Face ID.

The Sellers Group (that’s me) says this makes sense as Apple has filed for, and/or been granted, patents for such tech. One granted patent is number 11,067,884 for “through-display optical transmission, reception, or sensing through micro-optic elements.

Touch ID

Touch ID is an electronic fingerprint recognition feature, designed and released by Apple that allows users to unlock Apple devices, make purchases in the various Apple digital media stores (the iTunes Store, the App Store, and the Apple BookStore), and authenticate Apple Pay online or in apps.

Face ID

Face ID is designed to securely unlock your iPhone or iPad Pro. You can use it to authorize purchases from the iTunes Store, App Store, and Apple Books, and payments with Apple Pay. Developers can also allow you to use Face ID to sign into their apps. Apps that support Touch ID automatically support Face ID. Face ID is available on iPhone X and later and iPad Pro models with the A12X Bionic chip. 

About the patent

In patent number 11,067,884 Apple says that, in some cases, it may be desirable to determine whether an object or user is proximate to a device, to determine the distance between an object or user and a device, or to determine a velocity or acceleration of an object or user with respect to a device. It may also be desirable to capture a two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) image of an object or user that is proximate to a device. In some cases, the 2D or 3D image may be an image of a fingerprint, a face, or a scene in a field of view (FoV). In some cases, it may be useful to wirelessly transmit or receive information between devices. It may also be useful to acquire images or data pertaining to a device’s environment. In all of these cases, the measurements, images, or other data may be sensed or acquired optically.