Apple's entire iPhone 13 family is 'likely' to bring a highly anticipated feature to market

iPhone 13 Pro concept renders with in-display fingerprint recognition

While there’s clearly no room for Apple’s traditional fingerprint recognition method on modern-day high-end iPhones, the Cupertino-based tech giant has been reportedly working on adapting its classic Touch ID sensor for mobile devices with little to no screen bezels for a number of years now.

The return of the popular Touch ID functionality could take place later this year, at least according to several reputable sources, although other well-known analysts and trusted insiders seem hesitant the iPhone 13 family will indeed make this important leap forward.

Only a matter of time until fingerprint-under-glass technology becomes an iPhone thing

We know exactly what you’re thinking. Why is everyone making such a big deal out of Apple’s tardy potential adoption of a feature that’s been standard on premium Android handsets for quite some time now? Put simply, the answer is because Apple could do it better than everyone from Samsung to Huawei, LG, Motorola, OnePlus, and Google.

Google, mind you, has been the other big holdout of the in-display fingerprint sensor movement, opting for a traditional rear-mounted biometric authentication method on last year’s Pixel 4a, 4a 5G, and 5 after experimenting with an Apple-rivaling 3D face unlock system on 2019’s Pixel 4 and 4 XL.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra is just one of many Android devices to sport an under-display fingerprint scanner today

In theory, that means this year’s Pixel 6 may well challenge the iPhone 13 lineup in terms of screen-embedded fingerprint recognition accuracy and reliability, but something tells us that’s unlikely to ultimately be the case.

All that Barclays analysts are ready to predict today is the hidden fingerprint sensor is coming this year alongside a slightly smaller notch on all iPhone 13 models. Said notch should be able to accomodate a “more tightly integrated version of the existing structured light system”, which essentially means the Face ID feature will largely go unchanged in 2021.

2022’s iPhone 14 roster, however, could make a radical “architectural shift from structured light to time-of-flight, allowing for an even smaller footprint.” In other words, 2022 is expected to be the year of the first iPhone with a hole punch display… if all these predictions come true.

No LiDAR scanner for the iPhone 13 and 13 mini

Speaking of time-of-flight (ToF) technology, it seems practically etched in stone that the vanilla iPhone 13 and the diminutive iPhone 13 mini will follow in the footsteps of their predecessors with no such 3D LiDAR scanner on their back.

iPhone 12 Pro Max

Apple’s entire iPhone 13 family is ‘likely’ to bring a highly anticipated feature to market

Only a matter of time until fingerprint-under-glass technology becomes an iPhone thing

No LiDAR scanner for the iPhone 13 and 13 mini

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