Apple Secures iPhone 8’s Display-Embedded Fingerprint Sensor In New Patent; To Say Goodbye To Home Button For 10th Year Anniversary?

Apple has just secured the patent for another advanced feature that could likely be part of its 10th year anniversary iPhone — internally dubbed as iPhone 8. The patent that was awarded to the Cupertino giant on Tuesday contains details on how Apple would incorporate its fingerprint sensor into iPhone 8’s display.

An advanced fingerprint sensor is presented in the patent titled “Capacitive fingerprint sensor including an electrostatic lens.” It is different from the ones present in the current iPhones, since it is designed to accurately read through structures such as a device screen, as per AppleInsider.

The patent, which was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, reportedly provides a solution to the rumored design problem an edge-to-edge OLED display brings to the 10th year anniversary iPhone. Since the iPhone 8 is said to be bezel-less, there will be nowhere to place the fingerprint scanner that is currently embedded in the Home button of the existing iPhones.

The patented technology will enable Apple to introduce capacitive sensing technology to its 2017 iPhone by placing the fingerprint sensor just behind the OLED display. Meanwhile, the electrostatic lenses will have an important role when the sensor is picking up the reading of the user’s fingerprint, should Apple really push through with the redesign, according to PhoneArena.

This new patent comes just days after KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed his predictions for the upcoming 2017 iPhone. The renowned analyst said at the time that Apple could be looking into building a new iPhone with glass casing on the front and at the back with a stainless steel metal frame running the edges of the device.

Prior to Kuo’s predictions, an Apple employee revealed that Samsung’s biggest rival is working on its “iPhone 8” in its Herzliya, Israel-based facility. The employee also shared that the new iPhone will be “different” from its predecessors and will sport better camera technology.