The iPhone X replaced Touch ID on the iPhone in 2017, but since then there have been scattered rumors that Apple might bring Touch ID back to the iPhone, but they’re still just rumors.
Now a new report from Bloomberg says that while Apple has tested adding Touch ID back to the iPhone, it’s unlikely to actually happen in the near future.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says in its latest Power On newsletter that Apple has tested an off-screen Touch ID for the iPhone and has also considered adding Touch ID to the power button, similar to the iPad Air and iPad mini. However, despite Apple having tested both, Gurman believes that it is unlikely that either will see the light of day “at least in the foreseeable future”.
Apple has been talking internally for the past few years about bringing Touch ID back to the high-end iPhone. The company has tested off-screen Touch ID and is even considering putting it on the power button. At this point, I believe Face ID is here to stay and Touch ID won’t be coming back to the flagship iPhone, at least not for the foreseeable future.
Gurman also said that one possibility is that Apple could move Touch ID to the power button on lower-end iPhones, such as the iPhone SE, similar to what Apple did with the iPad, but Gurman said he hadn’t “heard anything about that actually being in the works”.
Face ID has improved significantly over the years, especially now that it works in landscape mode and can be used with a mouthpiece, and there really doesn’t seem to be a need to bring Touch ID back to the iPhone.
