iPhone 8 won’t feature Touch ID: report

PanARMENIAN.Net - The redesigned iPhone that Apple introduces on September 12 won't feature Touch ID, The Wall Street Journal reports citing people familiar with the matter.

Apple has decided to ditch the physical home button that contains fingerprint sensors for unlocking the iPhones. Apple tried to embed the Touch ID function, or fingerprint scanner, in the new display, which proved difficult, the people familiar with the process said.

The new iPhonewas plagued by production glitches this summer, according to people familiar with the situation, which could result in extended supply shortfalls when customers start ordering the device later this month.

As deadlines approached, Apple eventually abandoned the fingerprint scanner, the people said, and users will unlock the phone using either an old-fashioned password or what is expected to be a new facial-recognition feature. Nonetheless, precious time was lost and production was put back by about a month, according to people familiar with the situation.

Apple and its suppliers also ran into trouble manufacturing the OLED displays. The display modules are being produced in Vietnam by an affiliate of Samsung Electronics. Unlike the OLED display module in Samsung’s own smartphones, in which the display and touch panel are integrated, iPhone’s display module has the touch panel outside of the display, said a person familiar with the technology.

New iPhones typically are in short supply when first released. But if shortages of the new phone extend beyond the initial sales period, which is expected to begin September 22, analysts and investors could dial back their projections for sales in the crucial holiday period.