Last week, Apple released[1] the firmware of its upcoming smart speaker, the HomePod. It sounds like it was pushed out a bit earlier than expected as it isn’t supposed to come out until later this year. Steve Troughton-Smith[2] took advantage of that to find out that the next iPhone is going to feature facial recognition and a brand new “bezel-less” design.
Patents and previous rumors already hinted[3] at facial recognition for the iPhone 8. Rumor has it that Apple could either replace or complement the Touch ID fingerprint sensor with a brand new facial recognition technology.
While facial recognition isn’t new, Steve Troughton-Smith found references to infra-red face unlock in BiometricKit, the framework behind Touch ID. Codenamed Pearl ID, the feature should let you unlock your iPhone in the dark, even if you’re looking at your phone from a weird angle with your face partially blocked.
I can confirm reports that HomePod’s firmware reveals the existence of upcoming iPhone’s infra-red face unlock in BiometricKit and elsewhere pic.twitter.com/yLsgCx7OTZ[4]
— Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) July 31, 2017[5]
If all of this is true, this should be quite a neat replacement for Touch ID. If Apple wants to replace Touch ID with something else, it has to be at least as accurate and fast as Touch ID. The main concern with facial recognition is that you have to hold your phone in front of your face in a brightly lit room.
It sounds like Apple is aware of that. Now let’s hope that it only takes a fraction of a second to unlock your phone as the current Touch ID sensor is incredibly fast. Rumor has it...
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