Rumors about the next-generation MacBook Pro refresh point to them coming with a Touch ID sensor. However, it has remained unclear until now on how exactly Apple plans on integrating the sensor.
I think next year’s phone, the 2017 model, the one that will come out in September of 2017. What I have heard — now this is not really from the rumor mill but just scuttlebutt that I’ve heard — is that it will be an all-new form factor.
Apple has been working on developing touch and display driver integration (TTDI) chips since 2015, which would let the Touch ID fingerprint recognition system be embedded directly into the display, allowing for the elimination of the Home button. Analyst rumors have previously suggested the Home button will be removed in the 2017 iPhone, in line with what Gruber has heard.
And there have been some rumors, I guess, but what I’m saying is that I’ve heard this independently and it is completely getting rid of the chin and forehead of the phone. The entire face will be the display. And the Touch ID sensor will be somehow embedded in the display. The front-facing camera will somehow be embedded in the display. The speaker, everything. All the sensors will somehow be behind the display.
What I don’t know… I have no idea, but whether that means that they’re going to shrink the actual thing in your hand to fit the screen sizes we already have, or whether they’re going to grow the screens to fit the devices we’re already used to holding… I don’t know.
Touch ID integrated in display
A just published Apple patent application addresses this issue by disclosing means to integrate the touch ID fingerprint sensor into the display touchscreen.
Now, as per a report from 9to5Mac, the Touch ID sensor will be integrated into the power button of the upcoming Macs. This will make it possible to wake the device up from sleep and verify your identity in one press, something that is possible on the iPhones and iPads right now. System files in macOS Sierra have already confirmed that upcoming MacBooks from Apple will feature a Touch ID sensor.