An earlier report said that next year’s iPhone 16 Pro series will use off-screen Face ID. The latest news indicates thatApple is indeed working on moving the iPhone’s Face ID under the display and re-enabling Touch ID, but not in 2024 as originally planned.
According to analyst Ross, Apple had to delay the technology for technical reasons, a year later than originally planned.This also means that this under-screen Face ID technology will miss the iPhone 16 Pro series, but will not be on the iPhone 17 Pro series until 2025.When talking regarding the specific reasons, Ross believes that the main reason for the delay is a problem with the sensor.
As early as last year, some industry insiders said that Apple is very likely to be equipped with the under-screen Face ID technology in the iPhone 16 Pro series released in 2024, and then it will adopt the under-screen Face ID and Face ID technology in the iPhone 18 Pro series models in 2026. Under-screen front camera.
This means that the pill screen that just debuted in the iPhone 14 Pro series is very likely to be replaced with a front-perforated screen following only two generations, and a design without screen openings will be realized two years later.This is also the positive design that mobile phone manufacturers are currently pursuing, but for Apple, the challenge it faces to make a complete full screen is much higher than that of Android models.
Since Android manufacturers generally adopt the fingerprint recognition method under the screen, there is only one opening for the front camera on the front panel. In this case, some Android models have already implemented the under-screen camera technology.
However, because the technology is still in its early stages, it has not been rolled out on a large scale. The main reason is that since the front camera is hidden under the screen, the resolution of the camera area needs to be reduced if you want to image clearly. Therefore, under careful observation, you can clearly distinguish the display of the camera area under the screen from other areas. difference.
In addition, although the under-screen camera is successfully implemented under the screen, it still has the influence of pixels in front of the camera. Therefore, for models with an under-screen camera, usually the front lens can only be seen, and long-term iterations are still needed for a good distance.
For Android models, the opening on the front panel is only the size of the camera, and for Apple, if they want to use such a large area under the screen design, it will inevitably lead to larger areas with different resolutions, which will be very difficult for users. Feeling more and more serious.
Perhaps because of this, Apple will first adopt the form of Face ID under the screen. The Face ID under the screen does not need to take pictures with excellent texture, it is only responsible for the dot matrix projection of relevant identification points, and it is unlocking with face recognition, so there is no big problem in terms of technology.
According to a foreign report, considering the current status of smartphone production technology, Apple does not have much difficulty in ensuring that external light can penetrate the display and enter the technology required for the TrueDepth camera.
According to reports, “From the perspective of the display screen, the Face ID under the screen is the same principle as the UPC (under-display camera) that Samsung Display is applying to Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Z Fold series of foldable phones. The UPC is also installed under the display. A front camera module, so the camera lens hole is invisible when not using the camera function.
At present, in order to realize UPC, the specifications of the camera module can only be at the level of 4 million pixels. This is because the UPC space has to be divided so that part of it supports the display function and the other part supports the camera function by receiving external light, and today’s high-end smartphones have front-facing camera specifications that far exceed 10 megapixels. “
Judging from the current technological development, following Apple implements the Face ID technology under the screen, the Touch ID under the screen will follow. Unlike the under-screen fingerprint solution in Android models, Apple’s Touch ID is not just used for unlocking or other privacy and security functions. Apple believes that Face ID is currently far ahead of under-screen fingerprint recognition in terms of security.
In addition to being used for unlocking, the Touch ID under the screen can also be used to detect blood oxygen saturation and pulse biological information by virtue of a new system that Apple is developing that combines “short-wave infrared + optical system” technologies, and can even judge Whether the user is wearing gloves and whether the fingers are wet or dry.
For Apple, which has been deeply involved in the health field, the emergence of Touch ID under the screen complements Apple’s health map on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can also realize more hardware-level biometric functions on this basis.
However, some users have questioned whether it is necessary to equip an iPhone with two biometric unlocking methods. After entering the epidemic era, I think this question will be solved following iPhone users wear masks.
