iPhone 8 may ditch fingerprint sensor for face scanner

Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 could feature a revamped security system in which owners unlock the device using their face rather than fingerprint.  The tenth-anniversary iPhone is expected to have a drastic redesign, which could include a security system that can scan users' faces to check who is using it.

The 3D scanning system could replace Touch ID as a way to verify payments, log in to apps and unlock the phone, according to Bloomberg. It can work at different angles, so the iPhone can be unlocked by looking at it if it is flat on the table as well as held up right.

The scanning system has reportedly been designed for speed and accuracy, and can scan a users' face and unlock the device in a few hundred milliseconds. As it analyses 3D rather than 2D images it is expected to be able to distinguish between someone's face and a photo of them.

Apple could also use eye scanning technology, currently found in Samsung's Galaxy S8, to bolster the device's security.

The face scanning technology could more secure than Touch ID, first released on the iPhone 5S in 2013, as it draws on more identifiers, Bloomberg reports. Apple claims its fingerprint scanner only has a 1 in 50,000 chance of being unlocked by somebody else's finger.

The iPhone 8 will have an edge-to-edge OLED screen with "the highest screen-to-body ratio of any smartphone currently available", according to Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with a reliable track record. Apple is expected to remove the Home button and Touch ID scanner to make way for the display.

Kuo predicts Apple will release three new phones in September, the iPhone 8, iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus. The iPhone 8 will feature the most dramatic redesign of the three, with a 5.2-inch screen size housed in a device roughly the same size as the iPhone 7. It will have fewer colour options, and could come with a glass front and back with steel edges.

John Gruber, a well-connected Apple blogger, said the top iPhone could be called the "iPhone Pro" and suggested it could cost $1,500 (£1,160) or higher.

The other two devices will have LCD screens and come in 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes. Similar to the current iPhone 7, these phones are expected to have a Home button and Touch ID.

The three phones could have a Lightning port with an embedded USB-C and come with 64GB or 256GB storage, if Kuo's predictions are correct. They could come with a new chip, currently being tested, that is dedicated to processing artificial intelligence.

Apple is expected to unveil the three iPhones, which will run iOS 11, at an event in September. The iPhone 7S and 7S Plus could be available from later than month, while the iPhone 8 might not ship until later in the year.