Roger Fingas
A leaked metal chassis, purportedly for this fall's "iPhone 8," may suggest that Apple is indeed planning to put a Touch ID sensor on the rear of the device — though the part conflicts with other recent rumors.
The chassis, which appeared in photos on Baidu, includes a conspicuous hole below the Apple logo that's roughly the size of the Touch ID sensor on the iPhone 7. Its placement is consistent with a few past leaks, and also where fingerprint sensors are located on some rival Android devices like the Google Pixel.
As is usual with "iPhone 8" images, the part includes a vertically-aligned rear camera.
Most recent ones, however, include no rear Touch ID sensor. If the sensor isn't embedded in the OLED display, it could be built into the sleep/wake button, or even replaced by 3D facial recognition — assuming that technology is ready in time.
One possibility is that the chassis is from an abandoned prototype. Multiple reports have claimed production problems with embedding Touch ID into the display, and the company may have produced alternate designs as a fallback.
The "iPhone 8" is expected to feature an edge-to-edge, 5.8-inch OLED screen replacing a physical home button with a virtual one. Aside from 3D facial recognition, it may also include upgrades like wireless charging and a rear-facing laser for augmented reality and fast autofocus.
Christine McKee
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Wesley Hilliard
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
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26 Comments
Maybe something to do with wireless charging???
The biggest inconsistency is the metal back, instead of glass, in my opinion. If true, this definitely looks like they're going with plan B for iPhone 8.
We seen this before, months ago, it's not new.
Almost all the rumors point to a device with a glass back. This is not it!
The hyperbolic hilarity continues...
Why can't it just be the iPhone 7s? Would be pretty sweet to hear Tim Cook say "One more thing..." to announce the real iPhone "8"