With Touch ID rumored for Apple's new MacBook Pros, PC makers prep trackpad fingerprint readers
Apple is rumored to bring its Touch ID fingerprint sensor to the MacBook Pro later this year, but Windows PC makers could potentially beat it to the punch, thanks to new technology from Synaptics that's nearing release.
Secure logins via Touch ID are expected to be a major improvement to the MacBook Pro lineup, allegedly due for a hardware refresh later this year. If true, this would be the first non-iOS implementation of the biometric security system.
On iPhone and iPad, the Touch ID fingerprint scanner is embedded in the home button. It's unknown how Apple apparently plans to integrate Touch ID on the Mac, but a new method from Synaptics shows how it's possible to seamlessly integrate it into a notebook's trackpad.
Engadget got a sneak peek at Synaptics' special next-generation glass trackpad with fingerprint sensor, dubbed SecurePad, at Computex this week. IG Innotek is another company also working on similar technology.
In the Synaptics version, the fingerprint sensor sits underneath the glass layer, allowing the user to use the entire trackpad area for standard cursor and gesture controls. That's a change from its earlier iteration, which featured a separate fingerprint reader.
Godfrey Cheng, Synaptic's vice president of marketing, told Engadget he believes all laptops will feature fingerprint readers in some form within the next three years. The Synaptics solution was said to be responsive in hands-on tests, suggesting it could be made available to PC makers soon and launch in laptops this year.
Apple, meanwhile, is expected to launch its new Touch ID-enabled MacBook Pro in the fourth quarter of 2016. Whether or not Touch ID is embedded in Apple's all-glass Force Touch trackpad, or found elsewhere, remains to be seen.
The Cupertino, Calif., company is also rumored to be looking to include Touch ID in the touchscreen display of its 2017 iPhone revamp. Reports have suggested a radical redesign is in the works for next year, with an edge-to-edge display that would also hide the FaceTime camera and speaker within an advanced OLED screen.
Secure logins via Touch ID are expected to be a major improvement to the MacBook Pro lineup, allegedly due for a hardware refresh later this year. If true, this would be the first non-iOS implementation of the biometric security system.
On iPhone and iPad, the Touch ID fingerprint scanner is embedded in the home button. It's unknown how Apple apparently plans to integrate Touch ID on the Mac, but a new method from Synaptics shows how it's possible to seamlessly integrate it into a notebook's trackpad.
Engadget got a sneak peek at Synaptics' special next-generation glass trackpad with fingerprint sensor, dubbed SecurePad, at Computex this week. IG Innotek is another company also working on similar technology.
In the Synaptics version, the fingerprint sensor sits underneath the glass layer, allowing the user to use the entire trackpad area for standard cursor and gesture controls. That's a change from its earlier iteration, which featured a separate fingerprint reader.
Godfrey Cheng, Synaptic's vice president of marketing, told Engadget he believes all laptops will feature fingerprint readers in some form within the next three years. The Synaptics solution was said to be responsive in hands-on tests, suggesting it could be made available to PC makers soon and launch in laptops this year.
Apple, meanwhile, is expected to launch its new Touch ID-enabled MacBook Pro in the fourth quarter of 2016. Whether or not Touch ID is embedded in Apple's all-glass Force Touch trackpad, or found elsewhere, remains to be seen.
The Cupertino, Calif., company is also rumored to be looking to include Touch ID in the touchscreen display of its 2017 iPhone revamp. Reports have suggested a radical redesign is in the works for next year, with an edge-to-edge display that would also hide the FaceTime camera and speaker within an advanced OLED screen.
Comments
Just do the power button and be done with it.
Easiest and most ergonomic placement.
If you had an iPhone with Touch ID and then purchased another Touch ID device (MacBook or iPad), then you could simply get the hashed data from the cloud and load it onto your new device without having to learn your fingerprint(s) all over again. And if you added another finger to one device, it would then be available on all devices.
I'm sure there are 10 companies right now trying to figure out how/why to add an oled bar to their keyboards
I think the idea is that they could create a mathematical hash that would let them validate a fingerprint, but wouldn't actually *be* a fingerprint itself. Similar to storing a password hash. You know if the password is correct, but you don't know what the password is.
The industry as a whole is about 7 years behind Apple on trackpads.
I think the better idea is to apply the inherit security of a personal device to a slightly less personal device. For instance.... If you have an Apple Watch on and get near your computer, it unlocks. When you walk away from your computer, it automatically locks again. The same can be done with an iPhone. Just have your unlocked phone near the device and login.
Now... couple this with the ability to wirelessly access information on the device securely and seamlessly... and you have a winner.
So if I don't own an Apple Watch or an iPhone or my iPhone is upstairs I get penalised and need to type my password? That's not good design. The side cases you mention will obviously be baked into the design. And remotely you can enter your password anyway.