Seemingly in conflict with previous claims that the iPhone 8 could be the first smartphone to deliver a ‘built-in’ fingerprint sensor integrated into the front display screen, it’s now being reported that the device will feature a virtual home button without an integrated fingerprint sensor.
As reported by 9to5Mac, KGI Analyst Ming Chi-Kuo claims that the new ultra-premium OLED iPhone “won’t support fingerprint recognition, reasons being: (1) the full-screen design doesn’t work with existing capacitive fingerprint recognition, and (2) the scan-through ability of the under-display fingerprint solution still has technical challenges, including: (i) requirement for a more complex panel pixel design; (ii) disappointing scan-through of OLED panel despite it being thinner than LCD panel; and (iii) weakened scan-through performance due to overlayered panel module.”
“As the new OLED iPhone won’t support under-display fingerprint recognition, we now do not expect production ramp-up will be delayed again (we previously projected the ramp-up would be postponed to late October or later).”
It’s now expected that the new iPhone will follow in the footsteps of the Galaxy S8 by including a fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone, or not at all.
The reports come at an interesting time for smartphone vendors, with leaks suggesting that Samsung’s Note 8 will also tipped to miss out on the feature.
Case renders for the new phablet have proliferated tech sites in recent weeks. If taken as accurate, they confirm that Samsung’s latest will feature a fingerprint sensor on the reverse of the the device rather than underneath the display.
At the same time, Qualcomm has debuted its ‘Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensor for Display’ at Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2017.
“Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors because they can be designed to support sleeker, cutting-edge form factors, unique mobile authentication experiences, and enhanced security authentication,” said Qualcomm’s vice president of product management, Seshu Madhavapeddy.
They claim the technology is capable of scanning through OLED display stacks of up to 1.2mm, as well as up to 0.8mm of cover glass and up to 0.65mm of aluminium.
However, it’s at this stage unlikely that either Samsung nor Apple will be able to incorporate it into their devices for this year. It’s expected that the sensor tech won’t appear in consumer-ready products until late 2018.
