Touch ID and Apple Pay could be coming to Apple notebooks and the desktop

Magic Trackpad image 001

Apple’s revisions to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro notebooks, as well as next-generation versions of the wireless $69 Magic Mouse and the multi-touch enabled $69 Magic Trackpad, could soon gain an embedded Touch ID sensor for fingerprint identification, if a rumor posted Tuesday by Taiwanese blog Apple.club.tw is anything to go by. The site is alleging that Apple wants to bring its payment service from the confines of iOS-powered mobile devices to your desktop.

At first, it may seem that the explanation given doesn’t make much sense.

After all, who wants to lug around their notebook or a mouse/trackpad just to pay for groceries with their finger? Of course, Apple Pay is accepted as a form of payment in supported apps and on certain websites, too.

In that regard, having Touch ID embedded into your notebook and available on your desktop via the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad would certainly file as a great addition.

In addition, having Touch ID on Macs could enable users to log in to their computer without entering their account password, approve media and app purchases on iTunes and even strengthen security in apps, just like on iOS.

Apple’s NFC-based mobile payments platform is currently supported on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 supported Apple Pay only in apps. Older devices like the iPhone 5, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will gain Apple Pay functionality through an Apple Watch.

Source: Apple.club.tw (Google Translate)