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Foldable iPhone Under-Screen Touch ID Rumor Dismissed by Analyst

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Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is standing by his prediction that Apple's first foldable iPhone will feature Touch ID integrated into the side button rather than an under-display fingerprint sensor.

Apple-Foldable-Thumb.jpg

In a post on X (Twitter) today, Kuo referenced his March forecast for the rumored 2026 device: "Six months ago, I predicted the foldable iPhone would use side-button Touch ID." Kuo goes on:
"There are now market rumors that it will adopt an under-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, but I think that's unlikely. It's expected that Luxshare ICT will supply the side-button Touch ID module for the foldable iPhone."
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Kuo's original prediction outlined a book-style foldable iPhone with an approximately 7.8-inch inner display and 5.5-inch outer screen, priced between $2,000 and $2,500. He suggested Apple would skip Face ID authentication to save internal space in the folded design. Apple has already used side button-integrated Touch ID for the iPad Air and iPad mini, so the design choice is not unprecedented.

Camera-wise, the foldable iPhone is expected to include a dual-lens rear camera, with a front-facing camera for both folded and unfolded states, according to Kuo.
Both Kuo and fellow analyst Jeff Pu say mass production is planned for the second half of 2026. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman has said he expects the device to be launched next year in the fall season.

Article Link: Foldable iPhone Under-Screen Touch ID Rumor Dismissed by Analyst
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/09/01/foldable-iphone-under-screen-touch-id-dismissed/
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Rachid Vàzquez said:
Why put two Face ID sensors (one inside, one outside) when you could just use a single Touch ID?
It makes no sense from an engineering standpoint.
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because this is their flagship...so you place a cheaper and less intuitive solution ? because you pay twice the price...so we should have 2x faceID for intuitively usage
Its just milking the customers because they will brag about faceID into their second or third generation...
 
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Reactions: Lemonice, Moukee, aParkerMusic and 5 others
Would it be cool to have a phone that unfolds into a much bigger screen in my pocket? Sure it would.

Is it worth the price of an iPhone Pro + 2 iPads with likely significantly poorer durability and at best average battery life? Yeah, probably not, but curious to see how they do and what innovations or use cases the new form factor will enable.
 
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Plutonius said:
I actually like the side switch mounted Touch ID in my iPad mini.

I think that a more interesting discussion is what year Apple will finally release a foldable iPhone :).
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What I do not like is switching between touch and face.

Took me a while to get used to face all those years ago, but came to appreciate it a lot.

Having touch on my iPad mini works but my initial reaction is to look at it as if it had face! Sure - only tiny issue. But I think I would prefer face on it - like on my iPad Pro.
 
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I think underscreen Touch ID is only feasible if there is a sensor inside each screen. The left side sensor would face the outside screen while the right side sensor would face the inside screen.
 
MayaUser said:
because this is their flagship...so you place a cheaper and less intuitive solution ? because you pay twice the price...so we should have 2x faceID for intuitively usage
Its just milking the customers because they will brag about faceID into their second or third generation...
Click to expand...
Less intuitive? Do you even know what Touch ID is? Have you ever actually used it?
I’ve never had a single issue with it since my iPhone 5S — and now on my M1 MacBook Pro, it’s pure bliss.

At this price point, I definitely don’t want to be choosing which camera I’m supposed to authenticate with.
 
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The threads about this just go to show how different people are and how differently they experience things, because I could never go back to Touch ID; there’s stuff I think I’d be fine with giving up but Touch ID would be a deal breaker. Every time I use Touch ID now on my MacBook or iPad I think “man I wish this thing had Face ID.”
 
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wanha said:
Would it be cool to have a phone that unfolds into a much bigger screen in my pocket? Sure it would.

Is it worth the price of an iPhone Pro + 2 iPads with likely significantly poorer durability and at best average battery life? Yeah, probably not, but curious to see how they do and what innovations or use cases the new form factor will enable.
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To me it would be.

To me an iPhone that unfolds into an iPad mini would be professional work equipment that makes a lot of sense, and where I would accept a professional-sized price tag.

I'm definitely a minority here, but I'm also joined by a lot of people that wouldn't need it, but would buy it simply because it's new and expensive. (And neither they nor I would find a downgrade to a touchid anything but a huge inconvenience, btw.)
 
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t0rqx said:
From a shareholders perspective which is the main and only customer for Apple. This makes perfect sense. Increase the price two-fold but downgrade it two-fold too.

Maximum profit.
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Shareholder interest and selling the maximum amount of phones to happy customers are perfectly aligned.

Shareholders own the company, so they should have management’s attention. Management works for them. The CEO’s primary job is increasing shareholder value and this system has worked pretty well for getting the best products and services to market.

Markets set pricing, not Apple. This is a big step for most people, but Apple can’t just charge whatever they want. Consumers ultimately dictate what they will pay for most products and services.
 
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latts said:
I understand the space issue but for a flagship device to not have face ID seems strange to me. Yes in the iPad Air/Mini but they aren't flagship
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The Air isn't bottom of the barrel either.

And anyway TouchID is reliable.
A foldable is a very compromised phone as it..they don't need to add a slowish under screen fingerprint reader or hidden FaceID with ****** front camera on top of it.
 
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svanstrom said:
To me it would be.

To me an iPhone that unfolds into an iPad mini would be professional work equipment that makes a lot of sense, and where I would accept a professional-sized price tag.

I'm definitely a minority here, but I'm also joined by a lot of people that wouldn't need it, but would buy it simply because it's new and expensive. (And neither they nor I would find a downgrade to a touchid anything but a huge inconvenience, btw.)
Click to expand...

That's cool, mate. I understand there are people with genuine use cases with regards to having a bigger screen always available.

Even though the device isn't for me, I'm urious to see how big the market will be at these price points, and also what new use cases and innovations may arise from the new form factor.
 
AAPLbuyback said:
Shareholder interest and selling the maximum amount of phones to happy customers are perfectly aligned.

Shareholders own the company, so they should have management’s attention. Management works for them. The CEO’s primary job is increasing shareholder value and this system has worked pretty well for getting the best products and services to market.

Markets set pricing, not Apple. This is a big step for most people, but Apple can’t just charge whatever they want. Consumers ultimately dictate what they will pay for most products and services.
Click to expand...

I would argue that focusing on the customer rather than the shareholder is the key to lasting shareholder value.

The long term play is the delight of the customer in a profitable way instead of coming up with an ever-increasing way of sucking even more money out of the market.

Speaking as a consumer who has a household crammed with Apple devices, Apple's growing focus on growth and finances have made me more distrustful and critical of the company, and hence less loyal going forward.
 
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