I fondly recall how Apple left the competition flat-footed with the introduction of the first 64-bit processor in a smartphone. They were a full year ahead of any competitor's release of a 64-bit CPU, and farther ahead when considering how the iPhone would run more efficiently, by not loading the 32-bit libraries if no 32-bit apps were running. So if the competition (Qualcomm) is working to get under-glass fingerprint sensors ready to ship in the summer of 2018 this does not imply Apple won't be able to have such tech shipping this year. If anything, it suggests Qualcomm is reacting to intelligence it's received indicating Apple might be about to ship such tech, and therefore Qualcomm better hustle to get something ready for its customer base.
What I think is interesting is how multiple sources in the industry are working on similar technologies at the same time. There were several small switch companies working on print sensors at once. There are several working on vision, etc. it’s as though these technologies arise at about the same time, as researchers all come to the same conclusions in their research at the same time, and rush to found companies. Then big companies like Apple, buy the most advanced of these small companies, and combine them with the research they’ve been doing.
ARM had released a 64 bit design that was really aimed at low power server uses. That was the design Apple based the A7 on. It surprised everyone, including ARM. ARM’s SoC, low power though it was, had a higher power envelope. Apple changed the design for even lower power. At the time, nobody was thinking about 64 bit for phones. Or even tablets. I’m sure Apple did, because they wanted that up to 50 times faster encryption speed that 64 bit offered. We know what for - Touch ID, the hash for the print, the secure enclave, and Apple Pay. The rest was just gravy.
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ARM had released a 64 bit design that was really aimed at low power server uses. That was the design Apple based the A7 on. It surprised everyone, including ARM. ARM’s SoC, low power though it was, had a higher power envelope. Apple changed the design for even lower power. At the time, nobody was thinking about 64 bit for phones. Or even tablets. I’m sure Apple did, because they wanted that up to 50 times faster encryption speed that 64 bit offered. We know what for - Touch ID, the hash for the print, the secure enclave, and Apple Pay. The rest was just gravy.