Why does the iPhone come without Touch ID?

  1. Because Qualcomm owns the majority of the patents for in-display finger print reading and Apple does not want to buy more chips from Qualcomm. Apple ended their lawsuit against Qualcomm to get 5G modems bc Intel’s weren’t good - Apple later bought Intel’s modem division to work on their own 5G modem. Apple has filed some patents for their own in-display tech, but nothing may come of it.
  2. If this tech appears in an iPhone, you’ll likely see it in the next design change. These devices are designed years in advanced and affects their supply chain, manufacturing, etc. Apple runs a tight ship to be able to deliver as many phones as they do, o they aren’t going to cram this tech last minute into the iPhone. Also, this tech would make its way to other devices like the iPad so this isn’t just an “iphone only” issue. You’re going to see regular iPhones get 120Hz before Pros get TouchID.
  3. In-display TouchID is a nice-cessity. Apple may not see in-display finger print reading alone as a phone seller especially after marketing how amazing FaceID is. TouchID is in the power button on the iPad Air 4, which doesn’t have FaceID, OLED, or 120Hz and starts at $599.

My prediction: iPhone 14 will be a design change BUT 120Hz will be the seller for iPhone 14. iPhone 14 will still have the notch, the 14 Pros will be almost notch-less - it’s big advantage over the normal 14. No TouchID next year.

/r/apple Thread