Apple allegedly discussing Touch ID reinstatement, Mini LED screens with supplier GIS

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in General Discussion edited August 2020
According to reports from the supply chain, Apple is meeting with long-time supplier GIS about Mini LED technologies, in-screen Touch ID sensing for a future iPhone -- or possibly both.

Comparing Face ID and Touch ID


A supply chain report delivered by the Economic Daily News claims that Apple and supplier GIS are having a series of meetings about future technological contributions. The discussions are revolving around screen technologies, according to the report -- with the rumors being given some weight because GIS is presently an Apple supplier and once supplied displays for the iPad mini.

Allegedly, in-screen ultrasonic fingerprint reading will be discussed, as well as the possibility of GIS supplying Mini LED technology to Apple -- a move that Ming Chi Kuo predicted on Monday. It isn't clear when any results of conversations will materialize, or if anything will develop at all.

The Economic Daily News where the report originated has a very poor track record of predicting Apple's future product plans, such as under-screen Touch ID reinstatement. It has a decent track record when discussing supply chain moves, or Apple's meetings with suppliers, however. It also isn''t clear if the report is echoing from Kuo's report naming GIS.

In-screen Touch ID

Ming-Chi Kuo has previously predicted that the 2021 iPhone may adopt fingerprint on display (FOD) technology in 2021. The expected supplier of the technology at the time was said to be Qualcomm, using its ultrasonic technology, rather than others that have been developed over the last year or so.

Kuo believes that "four critical technical issues" will improve in the next 12 to 18 months. Limiting factors cited are module thickness, sensing area, power consumption, and lamination yield rate.





Apple has filed patents on the technology, proves at some level Apple's continued interest in implementing under-screen solutions. In April, Apple was granted a patent to turn the entire display into a fingerprint reader by taking advantage of acoustic imaging -- exactly what Kuo has predicted here.

A slightly different implementation is apparently also in the works, using a series of pinholes in the display panel, which would allow for an optical sensor. It is less likely that this method will be used, according to Kuo, however.

Apple maintains that the chance of another face matching a stored user is about one in a million. Identical twins have on occasion fooled the system, and it is possible to train the system with a failed Face ID unlock and a PIN entry to identify two people that look substantively alike. Touch ID has a one in 50,000 unlock with somebody else's fingerprint.

Mini LED screens

Mini LED screens are expected to be comparable to OLED displays, but without the production issues or potential for burn-in. Moving to Mini LED could also reduce Apple's reliance on Samsung's OLED manufacturing.

According to Kuo, the Mini LED screens will be produced by LG Display. GIS, Osram, TSMT, Sharp, Nichia, and Sanan are also named as component suppliers for the technology. Kuo believes that GIS and LG display will be the "most critical integrators."

Apple has previously been reported developing both Mini and Micro LED displays with Epistar and others.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 32
    rezwitsrezwits Posts: 916member
    A yeah...  there are some serious 15-20% situations where you gotta have finger cause line of site, sideways etc won't/don't work!
    watto_cobradysamoriawaverboy
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  • Reply 2 of 32
    ArloTimetravelerarlotimetraveler Posts: 110member
    I wonder which finger I would use?
    watto_cobra
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 3 of 32
    StrangeDaysstrangedays Posts: 13,171member
    Hey, remember when Apple launched TouchID and the various sites were full of people saying bad guys would cut our fingers off? Yeaaahh. Good times. ☝️
    edited December 2019
    watto_cobracornchipbadmonk
     3Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 32
    anomeanome Posts: 1,545member
    My brother is insistent on TouchID because of his specific use case where FaceID isn't useful to him. I can think of a few other situations where it is preferable, and I favour having both available, either working in tandem to double security, or separately, depending on the user's preference.
    caladanianmuthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobradysamoria
     4Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 5 of 32
    canukstormcanukstorm Posts: 2,784member
    A move back to TouchID via on-screen fingerprint sensing would allow Apple to create an iPhone very similar to this


    caladanianwatto_cobracornchip
     3Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 6 of 32
    ciacia Posts: 275member
    Before everyone leaps in on this screaming about how FaceID is a million times better than TouchID....  Having TouchID back as an optional way to unlock as an alternate to FaceID doesn't take away from also using FaceID.  Having both would be a good thing.

    I'm done trying to remind people that just because FaceID works awesome for them, it doesn't mean it works great for everyone.   In my case FaceID has been a terrible step back and I welcome the return of TouchID.

    But if you love faceID and it works great for you, then continue using it.  I'll be happy to get TouchID back (as a compliment to FaceID, which does work occasionally) 
    caladanianmuthuk_vanalingamdysamoriaanomechemengin1waverboy
     6Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 7 of 32
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    mini LED, micro LED, are they the same thing? I’d never heard of mini LED until lately.
    watto_cobra
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 8 of 32
    CloudTalkincloudtalkin Posts: 919member
    anome said:
    My brother is insistent on TouchID because of his specific use case where FaceID isn't useful to him. I can think of a few other situations where it is preferable, and I favour having both available, either working in tandem to double security, or separately, depending on the user's preference.
    My use case is specific as well.  My daughters have iP7's and my wife and I each have a fp registered on their phones.  Their next iPhones will probably be an 8 for the same reasons... plus iPhone 8's are dirt cheap considering the performance.
    muthuk_vanalingamCarnage
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  • Reply 9 of 32
    CloudTalkincloudtalkin Posts: 919member
    lkrupp said:
    mini LED, micro LED, are they the same thing? I’d never heard of mini LED until lately.
    They're different.  cnet has a surprisingly decent down to earth and detailed article about MiniLED and how it differs from MicroLED
    https://www.cnet.com/news/mini-led-is-here-how-smaller-lights-could-lead-to-big-tv-improvements/
    edited December 2019
    muthuk_vanalingamdysamoria
     0Likes 0Dislikes 2Informatives
  • Reply 10 of 32
    canukstormcanukstorm Posts: 2,784member
    lkrupp said:
    mini LED, micro LED, are they the same thing? I’d never heard of mini LED until lately.
    No.  The Pro XDR display is based on mini LED technology.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 11 of 32
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    I guess I'm behind the times because I haven't yet used Face ID ever. My phone and iPad still use Touch ID.

    I suppose that when I get my next iPad Pro, I'll get to try out Face ID for myself, but I wouldn't complain if both options were available, including Touch ID, and the user could choose which one they prefer to use, depending on their situation and use case.
    edited December 2019
    muthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 12 of 32
    spacekidspacekid Posts: 184member
    Why not touch screen ID for the iWatch? The current log in method seems to be a weak point that can allow access to iPhone and Mac.
    watto_cobraradarthekatn2itivguy
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  • Reply 13 of 32
    flydogflydog Posts: 1,145member
    canukstorm said:
    A move back to TouchID via on-screen fingerprint sensing would allow Apple to create an iPhone very similar to this


    No seeing the connection between under-screen TouchID and squaring off the sides.  
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 14 of 32
    flydogflydog Posts: 1,145member

    cia said:
    Before everyone leaps in on this screaming about how FaceID is a million times better than TouchID....  Having TouchID back as an optional way to unlock as an alternate to FaceID doesn't take away from also using FaceID.  Having both would be a good thing.

    I'm done trying to remind people that just because FaceID works awesome for them, it doesn't mean it works great for everyone.   In my case FaceID has been a terrible step back and I welcome the return of TouchID.

    But if you love faceID and it works great for you, then continue using it.  I'll be happy to get TouchID back (as a compliment to FaceID, which does work occasionally) 
     FaceID is a million times better than TouchID unless you don't have a face, in which case TouchID is a million times better. 
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 15 of 32
    bulk001bulk001 Posts: 825member
    A year from now Daniel will be telling us how Android stole this idea from Apple ...  :D
    muthuk_vanalingamlkrupp
     1Like 0Dislikes 1Informative
  • Reply 16 of 32
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,938moderator
    bulk001 said:
    A year from now Daniel will be telling us how Android stole this idea from Apple ...  :D
    What idea is that?  Insecure face recognition or ill-functioning under screen fingerprint recognition?  Because that’s where we are at present in Androidland.  
    lkruppn2itivguy
     1Like 0Dislikes 1Informative
  • Reply 17 of 32
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,731member
    lkrupp said:
    mini LED, micro LED, are they the same thing? I’d never heard of mini LED until lately.
    No they are not. Mini is already a "thing" with both Xiaomi and Huawei (Oppo too?) apparently having phones with that display tech for the Chinese market. Micro is coming to smartphones but not yet. 

    EDIT: Adding link that explains
    https://www.ledinside.com/news/2018/5/difference_between_micro_led_and_mini_led
    edited December 2019
    muthuk_vanalingam
     0Likes 0Dislikes 1Informative
  • Reply 18 of 32
    suddenly newtonsuddenly newton Posts: 13,819member
    StrangeDays said:
    Hey, remember when Apple launched TouchID and the various sites were full of people saying bad guys would cut our fingers off? Yeaaahh. Good times. ☝️
    I miss the halcyon days of ludicrous Luddite  trolling.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 19 of 32
    suddenly newtonsuddenly newton Posts: 13,819member
    lkrupp said:
    mini LED, micro LED, are they the same thing? I’d never heard of mini LED until lately.
    Not same. The names happen to sound similar, but very different. Mini-LED is yet another backlight technology that implements many local dimming zones. The screen itself is just a LCD.

    micro LED is an emissive screen technology that is capable of producing lighted pixels without a backlight, so it potentially has all the advantages of OLED, but brighter and with no risk of burn in.
    dysamorian2itivguyfastasleepcornchip
     1Like 0Dislikes 3Informatives
  • Reply 20 of 32
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    cia said:
    Before everyone leaps in on this screaming about how FaceID is a million times better than TouchID....  Having TouchID back as an optional way to unlock as an alternate to FaceID doesn't take away from also using FaceID.  Having both would be a good thing.

    I'm done trying to remind people that just because FaceID works awesome for them, it doesn't mean it works great for everyone.   In my case FaceID has been a terrible step back and I welcome the return of TouchID.

    But if you love faceID and it works great for you, then continue using it.  I'll be happy to get TouchID back (as a compliment to FaceID, which does work occasionally) 
    Thank you for posting this. I came here to say exactly the same, except that I don’t yet have a device with FaceID and hope never to be required to rely on it on future devices I may buy.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
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