Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Patent Application for Combination Fingerprint Scanner and NFC Circuitry Surfaces

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,477
30,704



Apple has filed for a European patent (via Free Patents) detailing a system for combining a fingerprint scanner with near field communication (NFC) technology, allowing for dual modes of operation in a single space-saving design. The patent application was published yesterday and discovered by Patently Apple.

The European patent application is derived from a U.S. patent application filed in March 2012 and quietly published on Thursday without mentioning Apple as the assignee, and the applications describe the fingerprint/NFC circuitry as embedded into a button or other surface included on a mobile device. That implementation lines up with numerous rumors of a fingerprint-scanning home button being included in Apple's upcoming iPhone 5S, although the potential inclusion NFC on the iPhone 5S has not been a frequent topic of rumor discussion.
A touch sensor or fingerprint sensor may have an array of conductive electrodes for gathering sensor data from the front face of an electronic device, an edge of an electronic device, a button in an electronic device, or other portion of an electronic device. A fingerprint sensor or other sensor may also be formed using optical structures such as one or more light sources and receivers.

Near field communications circuitry may be included in the electronic device. Circuitry such as filter or switching circuitry may be used to couple both the near field communications circuitry and the sensor circuitry to a common conductive structure. This allows the conductive structure to be shared between sensor functions such as fingerprint or touch sensor functions and near field communications functions.

Control circuitry within the electronic device may operate the device in multiple modes. When operated in a sensor mode, the sensor circuitry may use the conductive structure to gather fingerprint data or other sensor data. When operated in near field communications mode, the near field communications circuitry can use the conductive structure to transmit and receive capacitively coupled or inductively coupled near field communications signals.
Click to expand...
fingerprint_patent21.png
Beyond the home button, Apple suggests that other areas on a mobile device can be used to house the combination sensor, including but not limited to the device's screen, ear speaker, side bezel, and built-in bottom speaker, as well as other inactive areas on the phone such as next to the home button or near the headphone jack.

fingerprint_patent11.png
Notably, the patent also discusses and depicts a metal ring around the home button and its embedded sensor, something that has been seen on photos of what is alleged to be packaging for the iPhone 5S. Previously, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo indicated that the phone will have a sapphire-covered convex home button to support the fingerprint sensor, but more recent reports have claimed a relatively non-distinct design for the home button that may contain a shinier border as seen in the photos of the packaging.

fingerprint_patent31.png
Apple will unveil the next-generation iPhone 5S and the low-cost iPhone 5C during an iPhone event next Tuesday. In addition to a fingerprint sensor, the iPhone 5S is expected to have an upgraded processor, an improved camera, and a new "champagne" color option.

Article Link: Apple Patent Application for Combination Fingerprint Scanner and NFC Circuitry Surfaces
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/09/07/apple-patent-application-for-combination-fingerprint-scanner-and-nfc-circuitry-surfaces/
Porco

Porco

macrumors 68040
Mar 28, 2005
3,315
6,909
With the confirmation this week that the NSA work with major hardware manufacturers to purposefully put backdoors, flaws, vulnerabilities etc in anything they can to exploit, just in case they ever feel they need to, I think Apple, like all other major tech companies based in the US and its allied countries (and I would bet most countries try similar things with companies based within their borders too) are going to have an have an increasingly problematic time selling this kind of stuff as being truly secure. Because we all know that if they've hobbled it, they are 'legally' gagged from saying so too.

I've not been a fan of the idea of tying biometrics to Apple products anyway, but whatever your view it's a sad fact that whatever assurances are given over the security of such products don't really mean very much anymore, and this could have a horribly undesirable chilling effect upon innovation and progress.

On a positive note, it could increase the use of truly open source projects, as the only real way to inspire confidence in consumers in the future.
 
Last edited:
cclloyd

cclloyd

macrumors 68000
Oct 26, 2011
1,760
147
Alpha Centauri A
Imagine if it could read your finger when it was CLOSE to the home button, not even having to touch it. You're phones unlocked before you even look at it.
 
X

Xytal

macrumors regular
Mar 30, 2010
172
52
It's all coming together...

Tuesday can't get here soon enough.

Roller said:
About the fingerprint sensor, NFC, or the fact that the two may be combined?
Click to expand...

I'm presuming he means both, that would make the most sense. And some how, doesn't surprise me that Apple would figure out a way to do this.
 
bacaramac

bacaramac

macrumors 65816
Dec 29, 2007
1,424
100
I'm hoping Apple has a plan to incorporate payments here. Touch and swipe finger...payment done.
 
U

user-name-here

macrumors 65816
Aug 31, 2013
1,111
1
I can't wait till the 5S is here. Never having to remember my numerous passwords anymore (simply scan my fingerprint to log in) is worth it's weight in gold :)
 
C

cuda12

macrumors member
Mar 13, 2011
67
0
Miami, FL
Porco said:
With the confirmation this week that the NSA work with major hardware manufacturers to purposefully put backdoors, flaws, vulnerabilities etc in anything they can to exploit, just in case they ever feel they need to, I think Apple, like all other major tech companies based in the US and its allied countries (and I would bet most countries try similar things with companies based within their borders too) are going to have an have an increasingly problematic time selling this kind of stuff as being truly secure. Because we all know that if they've hobbled it, they are 'legally' gagged from saying so too.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately people aren't as concerned about privacy as they should be. Otherwise they would have to stop browsing the internet, sending emails, talking on the telephone, writing letters...
 
S

Some guy

macrumors member
Apr 12, 2013
63
1
cclloyd said:
Imagine if it could read your finger when it was CLOSE to the home button, not even having to touch it. You're phones unlocked before you even look at it.
Click to expand...

"Your", not "You're".

Also, the time difference between your finger being close (perhaps 1 cm) and actually touching the button would be extremely small. It wouldn't make a difference, and it would be completely unnecessary.
 
HiRez

HiRez

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2004
6,250
2,576
Western US
NFC combined with the fingerprint scanner would be a huge development. But I'm going to guess NFC is still not in the 5S, Apple is just getting the fingerprint scanning down before they integrate it in the next model (iPhone 6). At this point, NFC use really won't be mainstream until Apple adopts it, Apple knows this so they are taking their time with it. They can't wait too long though.
 
ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,558
6,058
If NFS is in the iPhone 5S I will eat my own beard and buy one. The 5S, I mean. I have a 4S and was planning on holding out until the first iPhone to have NFS, which I was expecting would be the 6.
 
Porco

Porco

macrumors 68040
Mar 28, 2005
3,315
6,909
cuda12 said:
Unfortunately people aren't as concerned about privacy as they should be. Otherwise they would have to stop browsing the internet, sending emails, talking on the telephone, writing letters...
Click to expand...

That's the thing, I can understand people shrugging their shoulders and giving up when it comes to almost any other kind of data being intercepted only by a government they might trust… (even if I disagree), but if any of our devices are broken by design and the manufacturers want to utilise biometrics, that's not information that can be reset with an email loop.

I think tying biometrics to big data and the internet is not being thought of with anywhere near enough care, and I think people should really think carefully about being an early adopter of this kind of technology. It's arguably of a different order of importance than even your passwords etc.
 
Last edited:
C

Crzyrio

macrumors 68000
Jul 6, 2010
1,587
1,110
bretm said:
Is this new? I mean my wife's atrix did this 3 years ago.
Click to expand...

Nope, not one bit new. Except Apple actually knows what they are doing.

Yes it was in the Atrix 3 years ago but was it useful? no, except for maybe that 1 person

the iPhone wasnt the first Smartphone, yet it was something incredibly new and changed the direction phones went in.

Apple does not come out with new technology, they take the technology there and make it useful to the consumers. They dont just throw tech at us and expect us to take the time to figure it out.
 
M

Michael CM1

macrumors 603
Feb 4, 2008
5,681
276
If the 5S somehow has NFC built in, that's quite the sneaky play-action pass by Apple. I can't think of anything major that hasn't been dug out before an iPhone launch in years.
 
D

duddy

macrumors newbie
Jul 16, 2012
20
0
Perhaps, at first Apple will only use the fingerprint sensor for unlocking the device.

But I foresee them quickly (if not immediately) making available the sensor to third party applications. This would tie in nicely with Keychain.

Good bye passwords! :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom