Apple unlikely to add under-screen Touch ID to any iPhone within the next two years

Apple is unlikely to follow through with rumors that suggested the company was developing technologies to bring under-screen Touch ID to the iPhone in 2023, with respected industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo saying he now doesn’t expect under-display Touch ID to arrive on any iPhone until 2025 at the earliest.

Kuo was one of the main sources who reported under-display Touch ID was in development, with patents describing new under-display Touch ID technology discovered in 2021, showing the iPhone maker was working on a way to “capture a two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) image of an object or user that is proximate to a device,” such as a fingerprint, detailing a “Through-Display Optical Transmission, Reception, or Sensing Through Micro-Optic Elements” method.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Kuo said “I previously predicted iPhones would support under-display fingerprint sensing/Touch ID in 2023 at the earliest. But the latest survey indicates new iPhones in 2023 & 2024 may not adopt under-display Touch ID.”

Reports claim Apple did in fact test under-display Touch ID and considered the technology for the iPhone 13 however, as we know, the feature was left out of the device when it released last year, with Kuo indicating that the technology may be a while off from ever releasing publicly.

Rumors have suggested that if Apple were to launch an iPhone with under-screen Touch ID, the device would continue to feature Face ID, giving users two ways of authenticating – three if you include the traditional numeric passcode.

Apple recently improved Face ID by allowing users to unlock their iPhone while using a face mask. This new feature could be one of the reasons the planned introduction of under-display Touch ID has been pushed back, with Kuo saying “Face ID with a mask on iPhone is already a great biometrics solution,” possibly eliminating the need for the reintroduction of Touch ID all together.