An Apple patent has surfaced suggesting the Cupertino-based company could be getting ready to bring its TouchID fingerprint scanner to both iPad and Mac devices.
Following the formal unveiling of the iPhone 5S last month with a TouchID fingerprint reader incorporated within the handset’s home button, it has been widely suggested that the sensor will be integrated within the iPad 5 and iPad mini 2.Both tablets are expected to be unveiled at next week’s October 22 launch event.
Now, however, newly leaked Apple patent have suggested that as well as hitting iPhone and iPad models, the new biometric security measure will also be introduced to the company’s iconic laptop ranges.
Referred to within patents as an “active fingerprint sensor,” the TouchID sensor patents have suggested that future iterations of the technology could see the fingerprint reader sit beneath a display panel, allowing it to be more seamlessly integrated within a range of devices.
With the iPod touch another device on the TouchID’s potential hit list, Apple’s patent filing, which has come to light through PatentlyApple, has listed a range of possible future inclusions.
According to the iMac and iPad mini maker, the TouchID sensor could be incorporated within “a tablet computing device, a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant, a desktop computer or a portable media player.”
Although the iPhone 5S’s TouchID fingerprint reader has caught some consumers’ imaginations and caused some manufacturers to follow suit, such as HTC with the fingerprint scanner including HTC One Max, it has not been without its issues.
With security specialists picking apart a number of safety flaws with the biometric security measures, a number of workarounds have already been discovered, allowing unpermitted intruders to circumnavigate the fingerprint reader to gain access to the phone’s data.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
