According to a new patent, Apple is working on a new version of Touch ID – as a result, the upcoming iPad could already have a new type of fingerprint sensor.
The Patently Apple portal reports on a newly discovered Apple patent. According to this, the cheaper iPad could be equipped with a fingerprint sensor under the display as early as next year. This type of biometric authentication is already being used by competitors and could also be used in the Apple Watch. Such patents from Apple have been seen frequently in the past - but they never made it into a finished product.
Affordable production
Similar information has already been provided by suppliers. The Taiwanese company General Interface Solution (GIS) and the Chinese manufacturer O-Film Tech are among those supplying this technology. Face ID is more complex to produce and costs more. For this reason, facial recognition will initially be reserved for the more expensive iPad Pro models. By installing this new fingerprint sensor, the cheaper iPad model could be given a design refresh and the home button could be eliminated - without significantly increasing production costs. It remains to be seen whether this will actually be the case in the end.
