At today’s CES 2021, Qualcomm unveiled a new on-screen fingerprint sensor that it says is 50% faster and 77% larger than its previous technology. The new Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 is expected to hit the flagships of next-generation Android this year, and it arrives as Apple works to bring Touch ID back to the iPhone.
While the Border reports, the new Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor measures 8 mm x 8 mm, above the 4 mm x 9 mm surface area of the previous generation. Qualcomm says that by combining the fastest processor and the largest sensor, performance should be 50% faster with Gen 2 than with its predecessor.
The new sensor is technically the third ultrasonic fingerprint reader under Qualcomm’s display, following the original 3D Sonic Sensor and 3D Sonic Max (introduced in 2019) – which was effectively just a much larger version of the first generation sensor, but was missing any real speed improvement. Although the 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 does not match the 3D Sonic Max sensor (which measures an impressive 20 mm x 30 mm) in size, the speed improvements should more than make up for it.
The 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 should be used in smartphones like the Galaxy S21, already in the first half of 2021.
As you may recall, several reports have suggested that Apple will bring Touch ID back to the iPhone line later this year. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported in August 2019 that he will launch an iPhone with Face ID and Touch ID under the screen in 2021.
Specifically, Kuo wrote that he expects Apple to use a “variant of Qualcomm’s ultrasonic screen fingerprint system”. The details here are unclear and it is not known whether Apple is still planning to use some form of Qualcomm technology or has developed its own.
In addition, the reliable L0vetodream leaker also reported that the Touch ID on the screen will soon arrive on the iPhone. Bloomberg also said that Apple will add Touch ID under display to the iPhone.
Offering Touch ID and Face ID would increase the overall convenience and unlock speed of the iPhone. A user would register their fingerprints and facial signature, and the phone can be unlocked once recognition is successful. There is also a common problem with Facial ID not working with face masks, which could be solved with Touch ID also available as an option.
Finally, if users wanted their iPhones to be as secure as possible, they could theoretically enable Touch ID and Face ID, and the iPhone would only be unlocked after both forms of biometric authentication were successfully recognized.
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