Apple iPhone 15: New Leak Reveals Surprise Cancellation

Sure, it’s a very long time till the next iPhones land—heck, we’re still waiting for the last of the 2022 models, the iPhone 14 Plus, which goes on sale later this week. But report season for 2023’s updates are warming up nicely. Though not always positively.

In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has news about the possible return of that fan-favorite interface: Touch ID. Since the launch of the iPhone X in 2017, Apple has produced phones with Touch ID or Face ID but never both.

The increased versatility of having the two systems would be quite something: sureptitiously unlock the phone under the desk so nobody knows what you’re doing, pre-arm the iPhone for Apple Pay without having to look at it and so on. All the while being able to open your phone even if you’re wearing a mask.

So, the first bit of news from Gurman is good: Apple has been testing the return of Touch ID.

Even better, Apple has manifested the fingerprint sensor underneath the display for consummate ease. It has also looked into putting Touch ID into the side button, as it has on the iPad Air and iPad mini.

All well and good, but then there’s the bad news. Gurman says, “The company has tested in-screen Touch ID and even contemplated putting it on the power button. At this point, I believe Face ID is here to stay and Touch ID won’t be returning to flagship iPhones—at least anytime in the foreseeable future.”

This is a shame. I love unlocking the iPad Air by resting my finger on the button. And I love seeing the Dynamic Island spring jauntily into life on the iPhone 14 Pro as the Face ID animation tells you it’s working. So, wouldn’t it be great to have both on the one device so you can choose how you use it?

Tantalizingly, Gurman said that there was a possibility that Touch ID mounted on the side button could be introduced to lower-price iPhones, perhaps to a future iPhone SE. But he goes on to say he hasn’t heard anything about that “actually being in the pipeline.”

Since the iPhone 15 is almost a year off, there’s plenty of time for things to change, and the return of Touch ID, in whatever form, would be welcome.