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All iPads Anyone think TouchID wasn't added into the Air or rMini due to technical issues?

Señor

Señor

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 20, 2013
427
4
United States
TouchID obviously needs a lot of work because of all the errors reading and recording your fingerprint.

Look at Siri, he/she was in Beta since the iPhone 4S and took until the 5S to perfect. That's two years.

It's obvious that this is the same thing TouchID is going through. I don't think it'll be "perfected" until the 6S.
 
I doubt it's a technical issue, although I'm sure there will be improvements through subsequent generations. I don't have any problem with the sensor on my 5s.

The more TouchID is used, the more easily it will read a fingerprint. There's a way to speed up that "learning" process by repeatedly having the system recognize a print while in the TouchID setting (where the list of taught prints are). When the print is recognized, the entry will highlight. Spend a few minutes "pushing the envelope" of where it will recognize a finger. You should find your miss rate go down.
 
TouchID works fine. It's been suggested that the iPad doesn't have it because the iPad is a device that'S shared more among other people, whereas the iPhone is mostly a one-person device.
 
My personal opinion would be that Apple intentionally left this feature out. Might be best to check iFixIt's teardown to be sure though.
 
How hard is it to punch in a 4 number pass code?

just as fast as resting ones finger on the sensor

I see no reason for it.
 
Last edited:
I think it was omitted from the iPad for two reasons alone:

1. The sensors are likely in short supply and this was probably one reason for the limited supply of the 5S to start with.

2. You tend to unlock a mobile phone far far more often than you do a tablet, hence the convenience factor of TouchID makes more sense. It doesn't really save much time on a tablet.
 
Lucille Carter said:
How hard is it to punch in a 4 pass code?

I see no reason for it.
Click to expand...

Too much for me.

I NEVER had a passcode in the 4 years I've owned iPhones.

Now with Touch ID, my phone is secure, AND I can unlock the phone faster than ever.

It's a great feature, and works about 99% of the time instantly.

Not sure what issues the OP is having, maybe he needs to get a replacement handset.
 
Señor said:
TouchID obviously needs a lot of work because of all the errors reading and recording your fingerprint.

Look at Siri, he/she was in Beta since the iPhone 4S and took until the 5S to perfect. That's two years.

It's obvious that this is the same thing TouchID is going through. I don't think it'll be "perfected" until the 6S.
Click to expand...


It is due to " next magical device " would need it, otherwise nothing to present in Air2 :)
 
I would think that Apple doesn't view the tablets as a real high security item, just my guess.

I'm sure there is a good portion of people that do a lot of business work on it. But it seems the majority of the users I run into are kids or other people that just play on it.

If there is a way to cut down on costs with out hampering down the product over all, a company will do it.
 
The premise of this thread is based on pure conjecture, but I'll chime in. The iPad's sleep/wake cover and cases would seem less relevant if Touch ID were incorporated into its design. I don't have sales figures for those covers and cases, but I've sold accessories; the margin is very high on those products. ;)
 
I think Apple thought the iPhone was more of a security concern since said device usually houses a LOT of information about an individual since most people depend on them for everything. Banking, email, contacts, billing, cloud storage access, social media, etc. Everything we are is stored on that device. Logins and access to many sites and apps. It only makes sense for that device to become more secure. Making it faster to unlock that security is even better (aka, touchID).

iPad - not so much. Maybe later?
 
Lucille Carter said:
How hard is it to punch in a 4 number pass code?

just as fast as resting ones finger on the sensor
Click to expand...

Not really, TouchID, if you do it properly, is much much faster. So fast that you almost don't even see the lock screen.

If you take an iPhone 5S and click the button to wake up the device but keep your finger there resting on the sensor, it starts scanning as the screen turns on and is unlocked in something like half a second.

MUCH faster than punching in the passcode.
 
locust76 said:
Not really, TouchID, if you do it properly, is much much faster. So fast that you almost don't even see the lock screen.

If you take an iPhone 5S and click the button to wake up the device but keep your finger there resting on the sensor, it starts scanning as the screen turns on and is unlocked in something like half a second.

MUCH faster than punching in the passcode.
Click to expand...

This. Not sure many people realize this is how you do it. It's almost instant. Much faster than click, swipe, enter code and unlock.
 
Señor said:
TouchID obviously needs a lot of work because of all the errors reading and recording your fingerprint.

Look at Siri, he/she was in Beta since the iPhone 4S and took until the 5S to perfect. That's two years.

It's obvious that this is the same thing TouchID is going through. I don't think it'll be "perfected" until the 6S.
Click to expand...
Not technical. Logistical.

I suspect supply constraint for sapphire lenses.

Next year iPad's will get Touch ID. Apple is spinning up that entirely new sapphire production facility.
 
It wasn't added for 1 reason and 1 reason only. So that Apple can come out next year and sell yet a newer ipad that has that feature. People will "have to have" the touch id, and buy a new ipad (again).
 
I wished the Air came with it because when in public everyone can see you punching in your code with iOS7. I do it all the time on the train (on my way to work). I watch to see how many people's codes I can see. With iOS6 it wasn't so bad.
 
I also believe it was for logistical reasons not technical ones. I think that if the iPads had come out three months later they would have had it, as the iPhone rush would have died down. But then they would have missed the Christmas season, which they wouldn't want to do.
 
The short time I used it on my friends device it worked flawlessly. I'm bummed they didn't add it to the device.

I might even wait for next year to pick up a retina Mini.
 
Señor said:
TouchID obviously needs a lot of work because of all the errors reading and recording your fingerprint.

Look at Siri, he/she was in Beta since the iPhone 4S and took until the 5S to perfect. That's two years.

It's obvious that this is the same thing TouchID is going through. I don't think it'll be "perfected" until the 6S.
Click to expand...

Considering Touch ID works just fine on the phones, and is no way comparable to Siri, you are just trolling. Señor, you get a wag of the finger.

tumblr_lut5mqXw601qzqg4w.jpg
 
Italianblend said:
It wasn't added for 1 reason and 1 reason only. So that Apple can come out next year and sell yet a newer ipad...
Click to expand...

Really? Were you in on the meetings where this was discussed? You do realize that if you were there, and really know what's going on, you signed a bunch of NDA's and you're going to jail and you'll have to sell everything you own to pay your lawyers. Or are you just pretending to know what you're talking about?

Personally, I think it's a supply/production/time frame issue, and you're being childishly silly, to think that Apple would sacrifice a unique feature that no other manufacturer has right now, and sacrifice what could be the best holiday season they ever had, just to wait until every other manufacturer is producing the same thing. :rolleyes:
 
Technical...sort of ...

Apple is building a facility to grow sapphire crystal...id say they did not have sufficient supply to accommodate ipads.
 
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