So with the recently announced iPhone 6s there have been a significant amount of Android users switching to the iPhone and although Touch ID has been out for over two years, making it’s debut with the iPhone 5s back in September 2013 a lot of the company’s products have since adopted the technology, most of the iPad models now have it as well as the iPhone models following the iPhone 5s. Touch ID is the name for the fingerprint sensor on the iPhone, embedded in the home button.
Apple intended Touch ID to be as simple as possible, as always eliminating any potential barriers to it working. It can be used to unlock your phone, make purchases on iTunes and unlock certain apps such as Amex to look at your credit card or actually within the Amazon app to track orders instead of entering in your password.
So, how does Touch ID work?
Touch ID may seem simple, in practice it is but underlying it is some serous innovations, using the home button on the iPhone is not only convenient due to the location but also the familiarity with the home button. The technical details are impressive, the cover glass is a laser-cut sapphire crystal which is naturally extremely scratch resistant, the colour matched metal ring also serves a purpose this waits to detect the placement of your finger meaning that the sensor isn’t always powered. Once your finger is placed on Touch ID it scans your finger with a high resolution image at around 500dpi and matches it with the one stored in the A7, A8 or A9 chip – depending on which iPhone you have.
What about errors or failure?
Touch ID has some measures which make it even more secure, your iPhone will require your password after 48 hours if Touch ID hasn’t been used, also the same if the device has been rebooted or reset. Also if the wrong fingerprint is entered five times in a row then a passcode will be required.
Devices
Touch ID has been out since 2013 and these devices have a Touch ID sensor
- iPhone 5s (2013)
- iPhone 6 (2014)
- iPhone 6s (2015)
- iPad Air 2 (2014)
- iPad mini 3 (2014)
- iPad mini 4 (2015)
- iPad Pro (2015)
