Analyst: Apple's Still Stuck on the 'iPhone 8's' Fingerprint Scanner
The so-called “iPhone 8” is set to be announced in September. Unfortunately, it looks like Apple still hasn’t decided on what to do with the phone’s fingerprint scanner. In doing so, the device’s release might be pushed back to later in the year, according to AppleInsider.
In a new memo, Cowen and Company’s Timothy Arcuri says the OLED-embedded fingerprint technology for the next iPhone is “still being worked out” with a decision expected before the end of June.
The analyst says Apple has narrowed its list of choices to three solutions. On a positive note, none of the choices involves moving the fingerprint scanner to the back of the phone, which was once rumored.
Instead, the choices include “thinning the cover glass over a sensor area, creating a pinhole through the glass for an optical or ultrasonic sensor, or trying a “film” sensor integrated into the display, using either capacitive or infrared technology.”
Regardless of Apple’s choice, the decision is expected to shift the release date for the device into October or November, a move that many will see as a delay. Since 2012, new iPhones have been announced and released in September, except for the iPhone SE, which launched in March 2016.
Arcuri’s report can’t be verified, of course. However, this isn’t the first time we heard Apple was having problems deciding on the placement and design for the phone’s fingerprint scanner.
We’ll continue to follow this story. For more on Apple’s next flagship device, see: