Return of Beloved iPhone Feature Off the Table Until iPhone 17

Touch ID will not return to the iPhone via an under-display implementation until the iPhone 17 at the earliest, a key report suggests.

In a September 2021 research note, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that Apple would launch at least one new iPhone model with an under-screen fingerprint scanner in the second half of 2023. According to Kuo's latest report on the matter, no new iPhone models released in 2023 or 2024 will adopt under-display ‌Touch ID‌, meaning that 2025's "‌iPhone 17‌" lineup is the next set of devices that could see the return of the beloved authentication feature.

Apple apparently tested an under-screen fingerprint scanner for at least some iPhone 13 models, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, but the company seemingly decided not to move forward with the idea.

Under-screen ‌Touch ID‌ would have been most useful when Face ID did not work with masks, but iOS 15.4 introduced a new "Face ID with a Mask" feature on iPhone 12 models and newer to address this problem. There is still a strong argument to suggest that having both ‌Face ID‌ and ‌Touch ID‌ on an iPhone would provide users with more robust security and faster authentication.

There remains a possibility that Apple introduces an iPhone with ‌Touch ID‌ built into the Power Button, in line with the latest iPad, iPad mini, and iPad Air models. 2025's iPhone 17 Pro models are also rumored to introduce under-display Face ID technology, so under-display ‌Touch ID‌ could follow soon after.