Apple has succeeded at integrating Touch ID technology into the display of the next-generation iPhone, according to a new report unearthed by MacRumors. The original report comes from Chinese-language site Economic Daily News, which claims to have received the information from sources at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), one of Apple’s key suppliers. TSMC sources apparently confirmed Apple’s achievement during a technology convention earlier this week in Taipei. At the symposium, TSMC reportedly discussed the lack of a home button on the redesigned OLED iPhone, attributing it to Apple’s implementation of “an optical fingerprint sensor to enable authentication directly on the screen.”
While rumours have appeared over the past couple of years that Apple has been working on a method for embedding the Touch ID sensor behind the screen, it’s only in the past few months that the company has appeared to be getting closer to the reality of doing so. Despite this, however, some analysts have recently suggested that Apple is encountering problems with the technology that could hold up the release of the “iPhone 8.” Other reports have suggested Apple is testing two different prototypes, one of which could have a rear Touch ID sensor.