The Galaxy S10+ is one of very many Android devices equipped with an in-screen fingerprint scanner

We’re probably still more than a month away from Apple’s official introduction of a new iPhone lineup most likely including another two OLED models and a lower-cost LCD variant, but the rumor mill is already in full swing regarding upgrades being prepared for both 2020 and 2021 generations.

The future of fingerprint authentication is “invisible”

It’s no secret that Apple rarely takes risks on newfangled, immature, unpolished technologies, sometimes waiting a little too long before getting with the times. In-display fingerprint readers have been around for more than a year on high-end Android devices, making their debut in China and gradually expanding worldwide on products from brands as diverse as Samsung, Huawei, Motorola, LG, Nokia, and many more.

Of course, that doesn’t mean smartphone manufacturers will go back to traditional methods of scanning users’ fingerprints for device and payment authentication purposes. Instead, we should expect the fingerprint-on-display technology to get better with time… or die a painful death as 3D facial recognition takes its place. But the two features can also coexist on the same handset, and something tells us that’s what most companies are aspiring to.

A reborn Touch ID and a continuously upgraded Face ID are the security dream

Naturally, Apple will continue to refine the Face ID experience, but if it becomes accurate enough, a backup in-screen fingerprint sensor is not to be disregarded. Together, the two state-of-the-art biometric recognition technologies could form an unbreakable shield even for the most skilled hackers in the world, not to mention advantages from convenience and ease of use standpoints.

First and foremost, Apple needs to make sure any attempt at reviving and modernizing Touch ID will meet its strict quality standards, which could take up to another 18 months, according to Ming-Chi Kuo. A few currently unresolved challenges reportedly include power consumption, size of the fingerprint sensing area, thickness of the sensing module, and production yield rates, which we’re guessing are the exact same problems impacting performance on Android devices.

That’s most likely why Apple can afford to wait and continue to polish the technology behind closed doors. Well, that and the fact Android-using rivals are still so far behind the Cupertino-based tech giant when it comes to implementing Face ID alternatives.