TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple is working on a new iPhone predicted to sport a power button on its side that would double as a Touch ID fingerprint scanner. According to the reliable analyst, the handset will release in the first half of 2021.
According to MacRumors, which saw Kuo’s research note, the phone should rock an LCD display, indicating it will probably be a lower-cost model than the current lineup.
From the article:
Kuo said the fingerprint solution will be capacitive and sport a ‘new design’ for an improved user experience, but he did not elaborate.
This jives well with Kuo’s report from last month which claimed that the phone would not have Face ID in order to achieve a nearly edge-to-edge fullscreen design with a smaller notch.
Now, Apple is widely believed to be switching from the annual iPhone refresh cycle to multiple releases spread out across the year so it could react to competitors’ moves more swiftly.
If the rumored low-cost iPhone is indeed coming in the spring, its successor with a side Touch ID power button may drop in spring of next year, according to my educated guess.
For the sake of completeness, Kuo said earlier that all iPhone models that the Cupertino tech giant will release in 2021 are bound to have both Face ID and Touch ID. We initially thought he could be wrong about that, but it’s now become clear that Apple could in fact create a phone with Touch ID embedded into the Power button on the side and Face ID on the front.
Kuo also predicted earlier today that the iPhone SE successor will have a 4.7-inch LCD display, a Touch ID Home button on the front and more. The low-cost device, the analyst has it, should launch before the summer of 2020, starting at just $399 in the United States.
Thoughts?