It is nothing new for Apple to stay out of the newest technologies for a few generations, to wait and watch the rest of the market experiment and do the wrong things, and then arrive later with a solution to these problems.
Next, it will probably be the fingerprint reader on the screen. The first phone to feature the technology was the Vivo X20 Plus UD, which launched in early 2018, and by the end of 2021, I think we’ll see Apple include the technology in the iPhone 13.
This nearly four-year period has seen a variety of implementations of fingerprint scanner technology on the screen, and now the iPhone’s biggest rival – the Samsung Galaxy S21 series – proves that the technology is ready for the market.
Long time coming
The Samsung Galaxy S21 series has strengths and weaknesses, but it undeniably offers the best on-screen fingerprint sensor we’ve seen on a Samsung phone so far.
In my opinion, this is the best on-screen fingerprint reader I’ve ever used on any smartphone. Several manufacturers, including OnePlus, Oppo, Xiaomi and many others, have tampered with the technology and some have included a technology better implemented than Samsung so far.
Samsung made great strides in 2021 that make it a much better option. Well, Qualcomm technically had a big hand on the latest technology, but Samsung’s new phones are the first time we’ve seen this available on a smartphone.
I never found a fingerprint reader on the screen that meant I would stop using the phone, but until now the technology has always been noticeably weaker than physical fingerprint readers.
We have gotten used to captive sensors on the bottom half of our smartphones over the past decade, and the switch to on-screen technology has not gone smoothly.
So why do I think it’s the right time for Apple to jump in and include the first Touch ID fingerprint reader that you’ll find embedded under the screen?
The latest series of phones from Samsung features a sensor 70% larger than what we saw in the Galaxy S20 2020, and this is noticeably easier to use. This means that you don’t have to be so specific with your finger, as much more than the bottom half of the phone’s screen has a scanner underneath.
It is a relatively small adjustment, but it makes the technology much more usable than we have experienced in the past. It’s also noticeably faster, which means you won’t be waiting for the phone to unlock as we did in some previous iterations.
A bad year for Face ID
I’m sure Apple has been considering using fingerprint scanners for some time, but the Covid-19 pandemic may also have exacerbated the need to return to a fingerprint sensor.
In the past 12 months, Face ID – Apple’s success story from a shift from fingerprint scanners to facial recognition software built into the selfie camera – started fighting as we put on face masks and hid our identities from our phones in an attempt prevent the spread of Covid-19.
A new report this week suggested that Apple is eyeing Touch ID to go under the screen for the first time on anything it calls its next smartphone series, and although I would prefer Apple to include that technology in its 2020 iPhone series 12, the Galaxy S21 proves that the technology is good enough for the masses now.
I hope that when the next iPhone is released – we expect September 2021, but it could happen at the end of the year – we will not need to wear masks as often, but rather introduce a new technology that allows us to use a fingerprint to unlock our phone will give us another option to quickly authenticate our identities next to Facial ID.
We may see just one Apple device featuring the new technology when it launches later this year – Apple will often keep its most innovative technology for a model – but I think Samsung’s success is a clear sign of where the iPhone is coming from. it’s going.