Future iPhones may have both Face ID and in-display fingerprint reader

Enlarge / Setting up Touch ID on an older-model iPhone. (credit: Getty Images | Chesnot )

Apple is testing an in-screen fingerprint reader that could appear in iPhones in 2020 or 2021, a Bloomberg report today said.

The feature would be similar to Touch ID, the fingerprint reader integrated into the iPhone home button starting with the iPhone 5S in 2013. Apple replaced Touch ID with Face ID with the iPhone X in 2017, as the company eliminated the home button in order to expand the screen. But this time, users would be able to use either the fingerprint sensor or Face ID instead of just one or the other, according to Bloomberg's sources.

"Apple is developing in-screen fingerprint technology for as early as its 2020 iPhones, according to people familiar with the plans," Bloomberg's report said. "The technology is in testing both inside Apple and among the company's overseas suppliers, though the timeline for its release may slip to the 2021 iPhone refresh, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private work."

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