Apple Secures New Patent For Fingerprint Recognition

Now that Apple will be celebrating their tenth year anniversary of releasing their iPhones, the device for this year is expected to be completely revamped from top to bottom. Earlier reports have suggested that the new iPhone possibly named as 'iPhone 8' might be compatible with wireless charging and an OLED panel for its display. That said, new reports emerge that Apple has apparently secured a patent for making things work with the fingerprint recognition process.

Currently, analysts believe that the existing touch ID initially introduced for their iPhone 5S four years back will likely be swapped for something newer. The touch ID is essentially the most important factor in an iPhone since most transactions are dependent on the fingerprint recognition process. That said, details from 9To5Mac report that Apple has secured a patent to revamp their existing fingerprint recognition process.

It seems like the process reads fingerprints in a new way that involves usage of ultrasonic imaging. This helps in avoiding common problems existing with their current touch ID sensor. Meanwhile, other details from BGR highlight the working procedure of the process where the biometric sensor works in such a way that would use sound waves to capture the data of a fingerprint image.

Transducers placed anywhere within the area of the display would produce a sound wave that would reflect the input target. Each fingerprint will be able to create different reflections to make sure only those reflections that match the wave which would then help in authenticating the user. The patent description also reveals that such a technology will be more precise in its functioning when embedded into the display.  

Apple's WWDC will take place in June this year which might reveal the new iOs version. With that said, while the actual devices will be introduced later this year, it's safe to assume that there would be more rumors and other speculations for the upcoming iPhone for 2017.