iPhone with under-display Touch ID tipped for launch within 3 years

(Image credit: Future)

Apple is thought to be working on bringing Touch ID back to the iPhone and a new report suggests that might happen within the next three years. Possibly even just two.

Apple ditched Touch ID on its best iPhones when it launched the iPhone X in 2017, although it still remains on the current iPhone SE. Apple has also brought Touch ID back to some iPads by putting the fingerprint scanner in the power button, but it's thought that the flagship iPhones will feature an under-display solution instead.

While countless Android phones have similar under-display fingerprint scanners, Apple has so far refused to follow suit and instead relies on Face ID for biometric authentication. But Touch ID is a rumor that won't go away, and a new report has put it back into the spotlight.

Apple's fingerprints all over

Now a new report by the Korean blog Naver via the leaker "yeux1122" suggests that Apple might be just a couple of years away from Touch ID's return. According to the report first spotted by MacRumors, Face ID might have some competition within a couple of years or three at most, so don't expect to see any big changes to Face ID with iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro.

Apple already has patents related to technology that could be used for measuring a fingerprint through a glass display, and Apple continues to work on bringing Touch ID to its flagship iPhones in the future.

While many Android phones already have fingerprint scanners under their displays, their accuracy and speed have been hit-and-miss. Apple's Touch ID was notoriously fast and accurate, characteristics Apple would likely want to retain when it brings the feature back.

Display analyst Ross Young had also previously pointed to a 2026 release window for an iPhone with under-display fingerprint-scanning technology. That same release is also expected to see Apple put the Face ID and selfie cameras under the display as well, ditching the Dynamic Island as we know it today.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.