Apple’s 2017 iPhone, a device which may very well be called the iPhone 8, is shaping up to be the game-changing device iPhone owners have been hoping for. Aside from reports that the iPhone 8 will feature a curved OLED display with an embedded home button, we’ve now heard more rumblings that the device may include an iris-scanning feature as well.
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According to a translated report from the Chinese-language site MoneyDJ (via Digitimes), Apple has already begun placing orders for “iris-recognition” chips for its 2017 model iPhone.
Xintec is expected to enter mass production for iris-recognition chips in 2017, which will boost the backend house’s revenues for the year, the report cited market watchers as saying. New orders for iris-recognition sensors include those for the chips that will be embedded in the 2017 series of iPhone, the watchers were also quoted in the report.
Iris scanning technology, we should note, isn’t new to the smartphone world, but perhaps Apple’s implementation will actually make the feature practical as opposed to merely a cool technology that no one uses. Should this rumor pan out, it will be interesting to see how Apple positions the iris-scanning feature alongside Touch ID.
It’s also worth mentioning that reputed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier this year suggested that Apple was keen on adding new biometric sensor technologies to the iPhone. Specifically, Kuo said that Apple was working on an iris-scanning solution that would enable users to authenticate themselves (and perhaps transactions) with their face and/or eyes. To this end, Apple earlier this year acquired a Emotient, a company whose software is able to analyze and identify a particular face and even varying expressions and emotional states.
As a final point, remember that Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 already boasts an iris-scanning feature, video of which can be seen below. We’d suggest you pick one up and try it out for yourselves but there is that little problem of Samsung halting shipments amid reports of exploding devices.
