By: Nick Gambino
With the iPhone 8 on sale now and iPhone X about to hit shelves, analysts are already looking to the future and what we might see with Apple’s flagship phone going forward.
The 8 and the X couldn’t be any more different from each other. The 8 feels familiar and in step with every iPhone that’s come before it while the X is a complete reimagining that ditches the home button and fingerprint sensor for Face ID and a bigger screen.
Releasing the 8 and X at basically the same time seemed like a test by the tech giant to see which one proved more popular before they commit in either direction. But now if reports are to be believed, it seems Apple is planning to do away with Touch ID in all future iPhones starting in 2018.
It seems like a jumping-the-gun situation but it comes way of KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who has rarely been wrong when it comes to Apple predictions. Or rather, he’s been right often enough for us to not dismiss him. MacRumors was the first to report on this, citing a note that Kuo sent out to investors.
“We predict all new 2H18F iPhone models will likely abandon fingerprint recognition,” the note read. “We believe this change will allow all new models to realize a competitive advantage via differentiation, on the back of integrated user experience of full-screen design and TrueDepth Camera/ Facial recognition/ Face ID/ AR applications.”
Now I have no idea what “2H18F” means and from cursory research (read: Google search), nobody else seems to either. It’s not a model number as all the iPhone model numbers begin “A1…” But whatever that gibberish means, the consensus is that he’s saying all future iPhones will roll out sans Touch ID.
This is surely to be a divided subject as there are already a number critics of Face ID out there. Albeit critics who’ve yet to actually get their hands on an iPhone X. Kind of like criticizing a movie when you’ve only seen the trailer.
Well for now let’s not get too worked up as it still only exists in the realm of rumor. But seriously, it’s probably going to happen.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nick Gambino is a regular script writer and tech beat reporter for NewsWatch. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and daughter.
