iPhone 8 could have another fingerprint reader offered by the Apple company, a recently registered patent describing the plans of those from Cupertino. More specifically, the Apple company describes the possibility of integrating a microLED screen in the iPhone 8, which would have a system capable of scanning our fingerprint without having a fingerprint reader like the one in the Home button.
Apple describes the method by which it would use in the iPhone 8 a technology of a company called LuxVue to be able to scan fingerprints using the microLED screens. The microLED technology that could be used in the iPhone 8 screen is able to "feel" the pressures and scan the fingerprint because it does not use a hardware matrix, like most screens in mobile terminals.
More precisely, the microLED technology tested for iPhone 8 would not use capacitive sensors, but other sensors and infrared light emitters together with an RGB LED screen, or a microchip. These formations called "interactive pixel" can be calibrated to perform a variety of functions, including the perception of ambient light, the detection of the proximity of objects, but also the analysis of touches.
iPhone 8 – revolutionary microLED screen
The infrared light of these microLED screens would receive the infrared light refracted by the skin and create a 3D representation of the object towards which the light is emitted. The explanations of the technology itself are complex, but in short, these microLED screens could help the iPhone 8 to scan fingerprints without a dedicated reader, so with fewer components.
For areas where users would have to scan their fingerprint to unlock the iPhone 8, the pixel density could be higher in the microLED screen. In this idea, the fingerprint scan would be much more accurate, and probably much faster, and so the iPhone 8 would offer approximately the same functionality as the iPhones released in recent years.
"Exemplary methods and systems use a micro light emitting diode (LED) in an active matrix display to emit light and a sensing IR diode to sense light. A display panel includes a display substrate having a display region, an array of subpixel circuits, and an array of selection devices."
Considering that the technology has been patented for the iPhone 8 for the time being, it is hard to say whether Apple will finally implement them in its future smartphone or not.
