Apple is notoriously slow when it comes to introducing commonplace features to its products. The general rule is that if something was present 3 generations ago on an Android flagship, you can expect it to arrive on next year’s iPhone. However, there is one feature that is somewhat conspicuously missing from most modern wearables. Namely, some form of biometric sensor. With the rate at which they are redefining the way we interact with technology it is almost strange that nobody has tried putting a fingerprint scanner on a smartwatch. Admittedly, that is a bit of an overstatement. Manufacturers have played around with the idea of implementing fingerprint scanners, but none have done so with great success. This is precisely why one of Apple’s newest patents draws attention. According to information posted on Patently Apple, Apple has successfully secured a patent for a fingerprint scanner on a future generation of the Apple Watch. Considering that Apple is usually more fond of refining new features than pioneering them, it makes sense why this patent stands out. The fingerprint scanner, based on the images from the official patent, will be located next to the crown of the device. The positioning is not entirely surprising given the form factor limitations, but this placement raises at least two questions.
Firstly, given that fingerprint scanners are typically integrated into a dedicated button, why would Apple add a second parallel button? It would have made much more sense to put the fingerprint scanner into the crown. The only logical explanation is that future Apple Watches could come with a second dedicated button.
The second question is much easier to answer, however. Why does Apple not experiment with an under-display fingerprint scanner? Samsung has been doing it for years, and all the problems with the reliability of the newer technology are offset by the fact that a smartwatch will never be a user’s primary device.
Hence, any security concerns remain limited. But Apple is Apple, and it would never put something that has not been tried and tested on one of its products.
