Analyst Kuo: ‘Touch ID to Return to iPhone Lineup Next Year’
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Touch ID, which hasn’t made an appearance in Apple’s flagship iPhone lineup since 2017, is set to make a triumphant return to the device as a side-mounted sensor on a new iPhone that could be released as soon as next year. Well, unless Apple “folds” under the pressure, that is.
Apple last offered the Home button Touch ID sensor on its 2022 iPhone SE, which retained the design of the 2017 iPhone 8. Last month, Apple effectively replaced that model with the iPhone 16e, which uses Face ID to unlock the iPhone and authenticate.
Respected Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple’s first foldable iPhone may revive the use of Touch ID in the place of Face ID. In a recent report shared by MacRumors, Kuo provided details about the new foldable iPhone using Touch ID in a side button format similar to the design used on the current iPad Air and iPad mini models, forgoing the use of Face ID completely.
Kuo says the decision to skip Face ID is due to the space constraints of a foldable device design. Kuo says the foldable handset will measure between 9mm and 9.5 mm when folded, and will measure in at an uber-thin 4.5mm to 4.8 mm when unfolded.
In 2012, Apple acquired AuthenTec, a company focused on fingerprint-reading and identification management software. The $356 million acquisition led analysts to expect a fingerprint reading feature to soon arrive on an Apple device.
Apple didn’t disappoint them. It offered its first iPhone with Touch ID in 2013, with the release of the iPhone 5s. The new feature made it easy for users to unlock their devices and authenticate purchases with the use of a single fingerprint. Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller, announced the feature at an Apple iPhone media event and spent quite a few minutes discussing the feature, how it worked, and the advantages and protections the Touch ID button offered to users.
With the debut of Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on September 9, 2014, company executives revealed Touch ID’s capabilities had been expanded from being used to unlock the device and authenticate App Store purchases to also authenticating Apple Pay payments.
The fingerprint-based security system remained a feature of the flagship iPhone lineup until Apple debuted Face ID with the release of the iPhone X in 2017. Face ID soon replaced Touch ID on all flagship iPhones as the Cupertino firm’s preferred way to biometrically authenticate users and transactions.
Touch ID was expanded to other Apple devices, including the iPad lineup and MacBooks. The higher-end iPad Pro has since adopted Face ID. Several iPad models, including the fourth-generation and later iPad Air models, iPad mini (6th-generation and later), and the 10th-generation and later iPads, all feature a side-mounted sleep/wake button with a built-in Touch ID sensor.
In 2020, 2021, and 2022, Apple unveiled a new Magic Keyboard with a Touch ID button for its line of iMacs, Mac Studios, Mac minis, and the MacBook Pro.
The foldable iPhone is widely expected to debut sometime in late 2026 or early 2027, and it’s likely to carry an expensive price tag for those who must have the latest and greatest iPhone from Apple. Kuo expects to see a price tag ranging from $2,000 to a possible $2,500+ at release. The device is said to boast a book-style design, sporting a 7.8-inch “crease-free” inner display and a 5.5-inch outer screen.
Nevertheless, we’d recommend taking these rumors with a grain of salt. There’s little doubt Apple is working on a foldable iPhone, but it’s hard to nail down a timeline, and it’s far from the first time Kuo has told us such a device was coming. In 2021, Kuo predicted Apple would sell 20 million foldable iPhones by 2023. He later revised that to 2024, which obviously didn’t happen either.
