More Evidence Points to iPhone 8 Rear-Mounted Touch ID Sensor

Apple’s upcoming iPhone 8 flagship is expected to boast a laundry list of next-generation technologies, including a massive 5.8-inch OLED display, wireless charging, and advanced facial recognition enhanced by 3D imaging technology. While the device has also been rumored to ship with a Touch ID sensor embedded underneath the display glass, however, one prominent analyst has cautioned that Apple has been experiencing difficulty implementing this first-of-its-kind innovation.

According to his most recent research note, a copy of which was obtained on Wednesday by AppleInsider, Cowan and Company analyst Timothy Arcuri detailed how Apple has apparently “reached a bottleneck,” and is currently generating much lower than expected yield rates for the iPhone 8 and its glass-embedded Touch ID sensor, citing his own supply chain work.

“For the 5.8-inch OLED version, the biggest bottleneck remains integrating an under-glass fingerprint sensor into the display— the current yield rate of Apple’s in-house AuthenTec solution remains low and AAPL seems unwilling to use other vendors’ products,” Arcuri wrote.

While his assessment of the situation may seem a bit sketchy at first glance, Arcuri does provide what he believes are viable, alternative solutions that Apple could result to if it’s unable to resolve the embedded Touch ID issue.

First and foremost, while he believes it’s highly unlikely, Apple could ditch Touch ID, altogether, and instead rely solely on 3D Facial recognition technology. Alternatively, as several rumors have suggested thus far, Apple could simply delay the iPhone 8 flagship until adequate production yields have been achieved — shipping the device in October or November, while still announcing it alongside its iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus counterparts in September. Finally, while admitting that the setup isn’t particularly innovative of user-friendly, Arcuri acknowledged that Apple could always reposition the Touch ID sensor to the rear-side of the handset, a la Samsung’s Galaxy S8/S8+ flagships, just to get the uber-premium iPhone to market on time.

In regards to the latter-most of those scenarios: it’s interesting to note that iDrop News recently received a bevy of exclusive information about the iPhone 8 — or the so-called ‘iPhone Edition’ — provided courtesy of Benjamin Geskin’s personal supply chain sources. Among a number of interesting rumors, these sources with intimate knowledge of Apple’s manufacturing plans indicated that the Touch ID sensor would be relocated to the rear-side of the device, which would more than likely be due to the infancy of the technology and its inability to provide a secure and dependable Touch ID experience.

Of course, we can only hope these rumors don’t turn out to be true, especially since Touch ID on the rear-side of the iPhone 8 would hardly be a revolutionary achievement. Seeing as how the majority of new reports appear to conflict on the design of iPhone 8, however, we can only wait and see at this point.

Would you buy an iPhone 8 if it featured Touch ID on the rear of the chassis?
Let us know in the comments!

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