First take video: Faster Touch ID on iPhone 6s, 6s Plus makes login & Apple Pay virtually instantaneous

While Apple's first-generation Touch ID fingerprint reader was already fast when it debuted two years ago on iPhone 5s, this year's update speeds up the sensor so there's virtually no delay at all.

Not only is Touch ID fingerprint recognition fast enough to be noticeably different from iPhone 6, but the responsiveness of the Home button in general seems to be that much quicker as well.

Touch ID was the first implementation of fingerprint recognition for mobile devices that worked really well and was both consistently fast enough to use all the time and easy to set up.

The technology not only makes it much more attractive to use a passcode, but also enabled Activation Lock, a feature that law enforcement groups have credited with making a big dent in the scourge of smartphone thefts.

In addition to helping to secure locked devices, Touch ID also plays in integral role in Apple Pay, making it simple and frictionless to authenticate payments using an iPhone, whether physically at NFC payment terminals, or electronically within apps that support it.

Since the release of new third party support in iOS 8 last year, Touch ID is also increasingly being used within apps to authenticate access, letting users simply touch their configured finger rather than entering a long password to gain access to sensitive data ranging from messages to passwords to bank accounts.