Leak Claims Apple Shipping 'Huge Influx' Of iPhone 8's With Backside Touch ID

A recent leak claims a “huge influx” of iPhone units with the Touch ID placed on the back of the device have been shipping. Apple leaker Benjamin Geskin shared a photo and details about the iPhone on Twitter (spotted by Apple Insider).

"I hate getting these," Geskin wrote when sharing the picture and details. "But I think it's interesting for you to see."

Read: iPhone 8 News: Samsung Building World's Biggest OLED Production Facility For Apple Display Orders

The image, sent by someone who works for a shipping company and does safety inspections on batteries, shows slim smartphone front panels that are not edge-to-edge bezels. The box with the panels was from an Apple supplier in Asia and was on its way to the iPhone company, the source said.

Previous rumors have indicated the iPhone 8 will come with an edge-to-edge OLED screen display with an embedded Touch ID, while other reports suggest the fingerprint sensor will be on the back of the device.

Geskin made it clear he didn’t really believe the recent leak.

“I still believe this is the 10th anniversary OLED iPhone,” Geskin said tweeting another photo of what the iPhone 8 might look like.

Read: iPhone 8 Rumors: Analyst Gives Predictions About Apple's Fall Smartphone Release

Apple Working On Facial Recognition

This most recent leak comes after a Bloomberg report that said Apple is testing facial recognition technology to unlock iPhones. The system would reportedly use the front-facing camera to scan the user’s face to log into their iPhone or to make payments, replacing Touch ID. The technology would scan a person’s face and unlock the device within a few hundred milliseconds, and it would also work if the iPhone was laying flat on a table, not just when it’s being held in front of the user’s face. The feature could include eye detection to boost security and would be powered by a 3D sensor that would improve scanning accuracy.

However, we might not see the feature on the iPhone 8, the report said, but Apple could integrated it in future iPhones to eventually replace the Touch ID.

Meanwhile, Cowen and Co. analyst Timothy Arcuri said in a memo the Touch ID embedded in the OLED screen is “still being worked out,” and could delay the iPhone 8 launch date. Arcuri said Apple would decide on three solutions in June for the Touch ID.

Back in April, the analyst said Apple was having trouble with the embedded fingerprint technology. Arcuri outlined three possible scenarios for the feature: one was is to move the Touch ID to the back of the smartphone, like on Samsung’s Galaxy S8, ditch the Touch ID altogether and rely on facial recognition through its rumored 3D-sensing camera, or to delay the production of the iPhone 8, but still reveal it alongside the iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus.

The iPhone 8, which could also be called the iPhone X, iPhone Pro or iPhone Edition, is expected to be priced at more than $1,000.