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Early iPhone 5S Shipments May Be Constrained Due to Poor Fingerprint Sensor Yields

aggemam said:
If the screen itself can detect fingerprints, you could have different actions for each finger. Use the 'pinky' to 'right click', ring finger to rotate the map, and so on.
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Sorry can't do. I only use my pinky for requesting ransoms.

D.
 
nekonari said:
While I'm eager to start living a life without passwords, I'm wondering... how will this sensor work? Is it gonna be embedded underneath screen? Like we just put our finger on a spot on a iPhone screen where an app (or iOS) is scanning for fingerprint, and it just reads it? Or will it be embedded under home button (I think this was the speculation when the news broke about Apple's acquisition of this tech company), and we swipe our finger on it like how those fingerprint readers on laptops worked?

And will this be a simple password/passcode replacement, or will this have larger implication like bringing your phone closer to replacing your wallet (with combination of this and NFC?)

I'd love to see the world where a phone is ID/credit card/everything else.
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It would make more sense to have the screen itself contain the thumbprint reader rather than the home button.
 
FelixDerKater said:
Maybe you'd prefer an iPhone 5 Max or Ultra?

How about an iPhone ONE, since the original iPhone had no trailing number?

They could even throw Samsung for a loop and call it the iPhone S5 to throw off the Galaxy series naming for next year.
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iPhone 6
 
Fingerprint technology will fail.

Fingerprint security technology will fail because the technology to counterfeit fingerprints will prevail. Fingerprint theft will become widespread. Think about all of the things you touch and grasp in the public domain everyday.
 
Tiger8 said:
this whole 5s mess is blah, seriously Apple can you be any more boring? the 's' line was fantastic in 2009, 'okay' in 2011, but now it's just plain lazy.

Hanging on to my 4s -- one more year for the 6
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wow dude u can predict the future. You mean you absolutely know that an s is gonna be released as opposes to a full number. Good for you!
 
Does anyone know how this sensor works/ have a link to a (video?) source explaining how it works? Is it like a super precise sonar detector? I'm trying to think of how someone with nefarious intentions might hack into it? Initially I thought it was capacitive, which (I believe?) would be much harder to hack, but apparently it's not?

Also, any input on whether it can be made narrow enough to take the place of the "dumb" sleep button, and possibly be a swipe finger scanning sleep button? Everyone is speculating about the home button doing this, but it's WAY easier and more intuitive to use the left index...

Thanks all!
 
GoCubsGo said:
I just don't think I follow how anyone could possibly panic over delays in shipments of a product that hasn't been announced with a feature that no one really knows will be included. Who says fingerprint scanning will come on the iPhone 5S? We know there will be a 5S and it will likely be on schedule with all other releases, but doesn't anyone think the fingerprint scanner would be held back for the iPhone 6? That is historically a release that carries even more updates, right?

I always say the "S" of the phones were nothing more than slight improvements to their predecessor. I'm a fan of my 4S, and I'll likely be a fan of the 5S as well, but I'm not sure the fingerprint technology will be included in the 5S.
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We'll have none of your usual common sense in this thread!! ;)
 
Bogus rumor.... Unfounded.. Yet look at the reaction.
This is why it is popular to write controversial news about apple... It hooks readers !
 
Chupa Chupa said:
So there you have it. Apple is NOT going to release the 5S until adequate supply is available. Now that maybe be only enough supply for the U.S., or U.S. and key European country, not necessary a more complete roll out,but Apple isn't going to get caught short in any given market.
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It depends on the reasoning for the delay. If it's due to supply constraint, than they'll probably hold off. If it's due to a lower demand, and they want to give the impression that the "New iPhone is sold out everywhere", then they will release immediately, and deal with low supplies for a bit.

That way it 1) Appears in higher demand, and 2) Lower than expected sales can be blamed on production issues.
 
Is this something we really want now we know the NSA is snooping on our web traffic? (Hi NSA) As soon as you register your print with your account it will be on a government database, in this case not even my government. I don't want any of the usual 'if you've got nothing to hide, what's the problem?' Comments, the fact is we are sleep walking into a very dangerous situation as far as privacy is concerned. All under the false guise of protection from a fear mungering US government. Who was it that once said 'you have nothing to fear but fear itself'? Terrorists arent out to kill you personally, they rightly or wrongly (not debating that here) want to bring down a corrupt western institution that thinks they own the world and the people within it. People need to wake up and tell the people THEY are in charge of that this is wrong and needs to stop. Maybe then we can all just crack on with our own lives in the way we see fit without interfering with the way your neighbour lives his. Murder is murder, terrorism is created by governments.
 
Cue the "NFC is pointless" comments.

On that note, I'd rather have NFC, making Passbook a more useful option as more companies are launching NFC capable pay systems. An NFC iPhone would push adoption quicker.
 
Woyzeck said:
So we waited more than 8 months for the new iMac, just because they were unable to produce the screen that no one was waiting for and now we have to wait for the new iPhone because of a sensor that no one needs. Great.

And in the meantime Samsung and the other Android phone manufacturers roll over the market. Maybe that's not the most promising strategy to overcome a loss in market share.
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To be fair, I upgraded to the 2012 iMac and I'm so glad they went to a laminated panel. The difference in glare reduction from my 2009 is staggering.
 
Based on the diagram, it looks like the sensor is reading depth, meaning it shouldn't be fooled by an image.

But start writing the stories now about how the fingerprint database was hacked, and the thieves are selling 3D printer plans for everyone's fingers.
 
inlinevolvo said:
Let me get this straight. You use a smartphone which can track your location, a provider that records every single call you make and receive, but it is an optional finger print scanner that broke the camels back? I'm glad snowmen woke everyone up, but NSA spying is neither news, nor a recent happening.
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No, it was the revelations about the NSA that broke the camel's back, not the fingerprint scanner itself.

I knew that my smartphone could track my location and that my provider could make a record of all my calls. I also knew that ISPs and content providers collected information about me when on the web. What I didn't know, and what wasn't publicly confirmed until a little over a month ago, was that the NSA has access to all this info or that the government has blanket warrants that allow them to gather and store essentially everyone's phone and Internet data.

So when I send an place a call, the government knows. When I receive a text, Uncle Sam knows. When I send an email from my phone, Big Brother not only collects the metadata but the actual content of the email thanks in part to the complicity or outright cooperation of Apple and other companies. All of this because a secret (FISA) court says it's okay in secret decisions that we only now have confirmation of because of Snowden.

Knowing this, when I find out my next phone may, on top of all this, have the capability of scanning my fingerprints — which implies that it has to store them in order to make the comparison — then yes I am going to be upset since this is another potential avenue for the government to track me further should they so choose.

If I'm lucky they'll never actually process the data they've collected on me or see it fit to track me, but they still are gathering the information. I have a right (for now at least) to complain when I see another technology that would allow a further erosion of my rights.
 
pubwvj said:
I hope there is an option not to have this finger print sensor operational. We have several iPodt and an iPad that we share in our family. That means many people are using several devices.

Furthermore, fingers are sometimes dirty, might have paint on them that would interfere with a finger print and finger prints change due to work, callousing and injury.

Biosensors should be by passable when not desired. We don't use the key code lock either - waste of time.
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Apparently AuthenTec has solved the dirty finger problem. This will be Magical(TM).
 
I could not be less excited about the 5s having a finger print scanner. Simply NOT a feature I am interested in, nor one I believe "most" people are.

Sure hope the 5s is not being held up for this.
 
I love how shipments are delayed due to low yields of a product that is instrumental for a feature that doesn't exist...
 
autrefois said:
No, it was the revelations about the NSA that broke the camel's back, not the fingerprint scanner itself.

I knew that my smartphone could track my location and that my provider could make a record of all my calls. I also knew that ISPs and content providers collected information about me when on the web. What I didn't know, and what wasn't publicly confirmed until a little over a month ago, was that the NSA has access to all this info or that the government has blanket warrants that allow them to gather and store essentially everyone's phone and Internet data.

So when I send an place a call, the government knows. When I receive a text, Uncle Sam knows. When I send an email from my phone, Big Brother not only collects the metadata but the actual content of the email thanks in part to the complicity or outright cooperation of Apple and other companies. All of this because a secret (FISA) court says it's okay in secret decisions that we only now have confirmation of because of Snowden.

Knowing this, when I find out my next phone may, on top of all this, have the capability of scanning my fingerprints — which implies that it has to store them in order to make the comparison — then yes I am going to be upset since this is another potential avenue for the government to track me further should they so choose.

If I'm lucky they'll never actually process the data they've collected on me or see it fit to track me, but they still are gathering the information. I have a right (for now at least) to complain when I see another technology that would allow a further erosion of my rights.
Click to expand...

Not that in ragging on you, but this goes full circle back to my point. This has been known for quite sometime now. Which is why I took your first post as a cheap jab...The NSA has been spying on US citizens since 2001.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_(2001–07)
 
MacRumors said:
Early iPhone 5S Shipments May Be Constrained Due to Poor Fingerprint Sensor Yields
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Of course, this could be another rumor spread by AAPL shorters.
If true, then initial 5S sales will lower than Apple had hoped.
If there is no fingerprint sensor, then some would-be buyers will be disappointed.
Downward pressure on AAPL either way. :-(

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Yojimbo007 said:
Bogus rumor.... Unfounded.. Yet look at the reaction.
This is why it is popular to write controversial news about apple... It hooks readers !
Click to expand...

Apple's above-average secrecy helps to fan the flames.
You know, the "Area 51" effect.
 
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