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It’s a bit of an open secret at this point that Apple has something rather big planned for this year’s iPhone launch, whether that be an iPhone 7s, 8 or X (for the 10th anniversary of the iconic smartphone). It’s also no secret that there have been some issues in acquiring the parts to get the phone into production, the latest being the fingerprint scanner.
Apple normally launches its new iPhone of a September, but latest reports from Apple Insider suggest that could be more like October or even November this year as it looks to put the scanner under or in the screen rather than having the home button we’ve come to recognise.
There are three possible options which apparently include a pinhole in the class for an optical or ultrasonic sensor, making the cover class over the sensor area thinner, or using capacitive or infrared tech to integrate a film sensor into the display.
This all stems from a research memo from analyst Timothy Arcuri of Cowen and Company, who is confident in the information, and confident that it’ll cause delays. As a result, he has left the iPhone 8 out of his sales forecast for the September quarter.
As mentioned earlier, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about delays for Apple’s next phone. There had been previous reports that a new OLED display was causing production issues and that a more expensive iPhone will launch later than the traditional ‘tock’ 7s and 7S Plus releases.
However, it seems like Apple won’t compromise on the fingerprint sensor, which was also apparently a cause of some awkward design for Samsung as it tried – and failed – to put the scanner in the screen of its latest flagship, the Galaxy S8. Instead it opted for placement on the back of the device next to the camera.
