Apple reportedly plans on bringing back a more secure Touch ID for the iPhone

To reduce the size of the bottom bezel on 2017's Apple iPhone X, the Touch ID fingerprint scanner was removed and replaced by the Face ID secure facial recognition system. Using structured lighting, a pattern is overlayed on a subject using infrared projectors and cameras note where the pattern is distorted. This depth information allows the TrueDepth Camera to create a 3D map of the user's face in order to verify his or her identity.

The last Apple iPhone models to feature Touch ID were the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. Since then, the 2018 and 2019 iPhones have all featured Face ID even though there is a contingent of iPhone users who would prefer to have Touch ID back. And now that appears to be in the cards starting with the 2020 or 2021 iPhones. Back in May, an analyst toiling over at Barclays visited Apple's supply chain and came away from his visit convinced that Apple will employ an in-display, acoustic fingerprint scanner on next year's handsets. The company had received a patent for this technology, which converts audio signals into code representing a user's fingerprints. Instead of relying on physical sensors, Apple would use acoustic transducers to help create pulses or waves that when decoded, reveal the user's fingerprints.