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Can someone explain to me why Apple would over-engineer a solution like under-display FaceID instead of just adopting power button TouchID across their whole product line? I have an Xperia at home alongside my iPhone that has a fingerprint sensor in the power button together with a cutout in the case and its brilliant.
 
Can someone explain to me why Apple would over-engineer a solution like under-display FaceID instead of just adopting power button TouchID across their whole product line? I have an Xperia at home alongside my iPhone that has a fingerprint sensor in the power button together with a cutout in the case and its brilliant.
Because its Apple... and they moved on from touch ID even though having both would be damn useful, but Apple only do things Apple wants not what people need it seems. The 13 series should have had touch ID on the power button I mean theres been a pandemic for a while now, but why give you a power button option when 'look here is an Apple watch' Call me cynical but thats how I see it. Get an Apple watch then you wont have to take your mask off, makes them more money than putting something sensible like a fingerprint reader on the phone.
 
Not really ars*d either way... Notch, no notch, hole, no hole, pill shape, no pill shape... whatevs... Why not stick Touch ID on an Apple Watch screen...?
 
Can someone explain to me why Apple would over-engineer a solution like under-display FaceID instead of just adopting power button TouchID across their whole product line? I have an Xperia at home alongside my iPhone that has a fingerprint sensor in the power button together with a cutout in the case and its brilliant.
Less secure and less convenient I’d guess.
 
Because its Apple... and they moved on from touch ID even though having both would be damn useful, but Apple only do things Apple wants not what people need it seems. The 13 series should have had touch ID on the power button I mean theres been a pandemic for a while now, but why give you a power button option when 'look here is an Apple watch' Call me cynical but thats how I see it. Get an Apple watch then you wont have to take your mask off, makes them more money than putting something sensible like a fingerprint reader on the phone.
Don’t underestimate how far in advance hardware designs are set in stone. It’s likely the iPhone 13’s fundamental design was set in stone prior to the pandemic.

But other than that, what are Apple to do? Should they make a one-off covid phone with Touch ID and no Face ID? How long after that should they go back to Face ID?
 
>In light of this latest rumor, we have put together a recap of everything that we have heard so far

That's great. I can't wait for the Sunday recap of the recap. Looking forward to it.
 
Cases will simply adapt to design, just like the cutouts for the mute switch or the cameras
Disagree. Cutouts allow you to still access the button/switch with a fingernail or edge of finger, but unless the cutout is huge, you can’t ever rest your entire finger on it (required for FaceID). If the cutout is huge, then the case isn’t able to protect the device as effectively, and phones take more of a beating compared to tablets given their size and mobility.
 
I might be in the minority, but I've always preferred TouchID to FaceID. It's one of the things I miss, having upgraded from an 8 Plus to a 12 Pro Max.
 
Looking forward to the new design with pill+hole cutout .

Under screen FaceID in 2024 if Apple decides to keep pill/hole cutout for 2 years and TouchID under screen maybe in a couple of years time.
 
After the reduction in notch size last year I cant see Apple bothering to change that again this year. For ones its expensive to keep redesigning things and they found a way to reduce size and cost I bet, with the smaller notch. This year will see a ton of rumours like last year that wont happen, I think iPhones are now a one off buy for most people for a good few years, you get nothing really that much better over the last model these days and saying "the latest and greatest" is pointless when you can't even tell the CPU improvements over the last three generations any more as they are all so fast.

I bet this year willl be the third year of this design and tiny improvements will drip down but not enought to warrant yearly hardware updates, its been like that for a while now anyway unless you have the cash to thow at it, or you can sell your old one in pristine condition towards the new one. Phones in general have hit a wall, until something truly innovative happens most people who buy phones wont give a damn about a notch or a punch hole, thats for places like MacRumours where people examine new phones with microscopes looking for imperfections! Whereas in the real world people just use the things as a tool and make them last as long as they can.

Everything you said is spot on.
 
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- Face ID isn't magically going under the display. This is made up nonsense. What actually happens is that over time Apple is able to miniaturize mature technology (as is common). By doing so, the Face ID components take up less space, therefor the notch can change size and shape, or no longer be a "notch" at all, and more of an island.

- The pill + hole design sounds like the most likely, as its exactly as weird and bold as Apple likes to be, and it looks different from every other, which we've seen is very important to Apple, and probably is important from an exposure marketing standpoint.

- The rumors about under display Touch ID go back 6 years and they were nonsense then and they are nonsense now. Analysts were absolutely certain that iPhone X would have Touch ID under the display, and Apple commented after iPhone X's release that they never even considered doing that. Face ID is superior to Touch ID, and it's simply not going back.
 
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Can someone explain to me why Apple would over-engineer a solution like under-display FaceID instead of just adopting power button TouchID across their whole product line?
Yes, because Face ID succeeded Touch ID, because Face ID is infinitely superior, and Touch ID in the power button is a terrible user experience.

There. You've had it explained to you.
 
Touch ID back is the single biggest feature I want from an iPhone. Nothing else will make me happy. Seriously hate Face ID, the entire concept.
 
- Face ID isn't magically going under the display. This is made up nonsense. What actually happens is that over time Apple is able to miniaturize mature technology (as is common). By doing so, the Face ID components take up less space, therefor the notch can change size and shape, or no longer be a "notch" at all, and more of an island.

- The pill + hole design sounds like the most likely, as its exactly as weird and bold as Apple likes to be, and it looks different from every other, which we've seen is very important to Apple, and probably is important from an exposure marketing standpoint.

- The rumors about under display Touch ID go back 6 years and they were nonsense then and they are nonsense now. Analysts were absolutely certain that iPhone X would have Touch ID under the display, and Apple commented after iPhone X's release that they never even considered doing that. Face ID is superior to Touch ID, and it's simply not going back.
I do not agree. I could unlock a phone when it was in my pocket still with touch it. I never had to enter a pass code ad touch id always worked. Now, it is not the case.
 
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I think Apple has considered a third design: an even smaller notch. The technology is now there to reduce the notch for the front camera and Face ID to maybe half the size of the one on the iPhone 13 models.
 
I do not agree. I could unlock a phone when it was in my pocket still with touch it. I never had to enter a pass code ad touch id always worked. Now, it is not the case.
Nothing more seamless and perfect than just lookin at the phone and it unlocks. Absolutely no one cares about unlocking it in your pocket. Or rather I should say, no one considers that to be a good thing, rather its better that can't happen.
 
With COVID and facemasks likely hanging around for the foreseeable future, Apple should just stick a damned power button fingerprint reader on the phones. Works great on my iPad mini. I can't see how this would be an insurmountable engineering challenge.
 
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Apple will do what they want but:
  • Releasing a phone with multiple biometric options means substantially higher component cost and more size pressure which could result in a reduction of e.g. battery size.
  • A choice of biometrics during login means that you are only as strong as the weakest option in the list. To put differently, an active fingerprint reader severely degrades security vs FaceID.
  • The pill cut-out as specified so far will effectively use more screen real estate (e.g. decrease the safe area).
  • Apple has no discernible reason to adopt under-screen fingerprint reading when they have side-button reading already in production with presumably lower component cost.
  • Under-screen FaceID requires several new inventions, not just better engineering. I would expect patents to surface before I would expect it to be scheduled out.
Note that the strength of Kuo supply chain rumors is in observed behavior and leaks - but Apple isn't engaging their supply chain for 2023 and 2024 phones yet.
 
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Why not just combine the hole and the pill cutouts into a larger pill? The few pixels of display between the hole and the pill will be unusable anyway.
Because the separate cutouts form a shape like an “i”, and it’s an i-Phone. ;)
 
They should just make the glass back one huge Touch ID sensor. Expensive? Probably, but also really useful.
 
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