In a world still struggling with a pandemic for over a year now, face masks have become a crucial item for saving lives. But they also make facial recognition systems redundant, especially those on our daily use gadgets such as smartphones, with the best example being iPhones. Well, it appears that Apple might finally pay heed to the demand of iPhone users and employ an in-screen fingerprint sensor on its smartphones. As per a report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple has been experimenting with an in-display fingerprint sensor and might bring it to its upcoming iPhones without ditching Face ID hardware.

“Apple has been working on in-screen fingerprint technology and has considered including both Touch ID and Face ID on the same device, two former Apple employees told me. While they couldn’t confirm the company’s plans, other reports, including one from Bloomberg, say Apple is testing in-screen fingerprint sensors in its next iPhone,” says the report. Interestingly analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted back in August of 2019 that the 2021 slate of iPhones will offer both Touch ID and Face ID. And earlier this month, a couple of tipsters with a solid track record mentioned that Touch ID will return on the iPhone 13 family.

Apple might offer both Face ID and Touch ID on upcoming iPhones

The latest report also cites a former Apple employee who added that the company has been experimenting with an optical in-screen fingerprint sensor, which is said to be more reliable than the ultra-sensing in-display fingerprint sensor used on Samsung’s Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S21 series phones developed by Qualcomm. However, iPhones will only get an in-display fingerprint sensor if they match the accuracy and speed standards Apple set with the physical Touch ID sensor that you still find on older iPhones (and a few newer models such as the iPhone SE 2020), iPads, and MacBooks.

In the past few months, there has also been speculation that Apple might use a physical side-mounted fingerprint sensor on its upcoming iPhones, just like the one we saw on the iPad Air that made its debut late last year. However, Face ID will continue to exist on iPhones as it facilitates a host of AR features such as Memojis.