While Touch ID isn't being offered as a biometric authentication method in current-generation iPhones and the iPad Pro range, Apple is still considering the possibility of adding fingerprint recognition to its mobile devices, by using acoustic imaging on the display.
The police cannot force a person to unlock their iPhone with Face ID or Touch ID, a U.S. federal judge has ruled, a move that effectively provides users the same protection for the biometric security for their devices as previously afforded to passcodes.
Apple could have included a facial recognition system similar to Face ID on an iPhone while retaining Touch ID, with regulatory filings revealing the company did consider having both forms of biometric security on the same device as part of a wider authentication system.
MacBook Pro users will soon be able to take advantage of Touch ID to authenticate themselves with websites in Chrome, with version 70 of Google's web browser adding support for fingerprint readers in macOS, among other features.
Unsurprisingly, Apple does not plan to integrate fingerprint sensors under the screen of its 2019 iPhone, leaving the field open for Android adoption.
Florida police have reportedly attempted to unlock a dead man's smartphone using his fingerprint, an act that reflects an ethical dilemma for the modern age concerning biometric security for mobile devices.
A South Korean company, First Face, has launched a U.S. patent infringement lawsuit against both Apple and Samsung over their implementation of fingerprint detection to unlock smartphones.
While there have been some failures, U.S. law enforcement agencies have indeed used the fingers of corpses to unlock iPhones and obtain evidence, a report revealed on Thursday.
Though previous rumor and speculation pegged Samsung to incorporate cutting edge under-display fingerprint recognition technology in its upcoming Galaxy Note 9, KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo now believes the feature will not be ready in time for an expected release later this year.
Long-time Apple supplier Synaptics has revealed its new fingerprint scanning technology, with the company claiming that it functions through "infinity displays" like that found in the Galaxy S8 and iPhone X.
With the introduction of the iPhone X and Face ID, some are concerned that Apple's new biometric system is not as secure or easy to use as the legacy fingerprint-based Touch ID. AppleInsider digs deeper to explain why you shouldn't fear facing the future.
Security and biometrics experts are said to be divided on the question of whether police — or the FBI — could have used the body of Sutherland Springs shooter Devin Kelley to unlock his rumored iPhone.
There is a lot of chatter about people disappointed with the speed of unlocking the iPhone X with Face ID versus just about anything else with Touch ID. AppleInsider talks about it, and how to speed it up.
Apple's iPhone X is drawing compliments from some unlikely places, ranging from the official Twitter account of Steven Sinofsky, the former President of Microsoft's Windows Division, to diehard Android fans sharing their unvarnished opinions on Reddit. However, it can't please embittered bloggers who wanted Apple to fail.
Apple has once again reiterated that, despite rumors to the contrary, the company did not intend to have a Touch ID fingerprint sensor embedded in the display of the iPhone X, and that Face ID was developed to be a full, permanent Touch ID replacement.
Apple on Tuesday was granted a patent for an ultrasound-based force and touch sensor that could lead to a thinner, less obstructive 3D Touch mechanism, a structure which was reportedly a barrier to below-screen Touch ID integration in iPhone X.
With the launch of Face ID on iPhone X, and the subsequent removal of Touch ID, users are wondering whether Apple's legacy fingerprint biometric solution is dead in the water. According to one analyst, that answer depends as much on the public reception of the new facial recognition system as it does technical hurdles involving an under-screen Touch ID system.
Apple software chief Craig Federighi has revealed that Face ID unlock on the new iPhone X will come with a hidden security feature, allowing users to press buttons on both sides of the phone to temporarily disable the facial recognition capabilities.
Apple has allegedly been planning for Face ID to be a full replacement for Touch ID for well over a year, a new report claims, refuting earlier claims by the supply chain that the removal of the fingerprint technology is a recent decision.
Four years after introducing Touch ID to radically enhance iOS users' privacy and security, today's Apple is doing exactly what Steve Jobs would do — phasing it out and moving on to something even better: Face ID technology in iPhone X.
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Malcolm Owen
Mike Wuerthele
Stephen Silver
Roger Fingas
Mikey Campbell
AppleInsider Staff
Daniel Eran Dilger
Neil Hughes
